Lady luck deserts Léo's Benfica

Brazilian defender Léo felt SL Benfica were lacking only "a little bit of luck" against RCD Espanyol on Thursday after laying siege to the visitors' goal for long periods of the second half without reward.

Benfica denied
The Lisbon giants began the evening confident of reaching their first European semi-final for 14 years having scored two away goals in the UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg last week. The 3-2 loss in Barcelona left Fernando Santos's men requiring victory by a solitary goal, yet the task proved beyond them as Rui Costa and Fabrizio Miccoli both struck the woodwork while goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz denied Nuno Gomes with a miraculous save to ensure the game finished goalless.

'We kept fighting'
Léo struggled to hide his disappointment after Benfica's elimination but said the team had tried everything. "We feel very sad but this was one of those nights when the ball just didn't want to go in," the left-back, 31, told uefa.com. "We knew Espanyol would try to hold on to their advantage and they proved tough to break down but we kept fighting until the last minute, and nobody could question our determination or commitment. The only thing lacking was maybe a bit of luck."

Dose of fortune
Espanyol certainly lived a charmed life as Benfica, cheered on by fervent support, cranked up the pressure after the interval. While Iraizoz was commanding throughout, the custodian relied on a dose of fortune when Miccoli's shot hit the inside of the post and rebounded on to his back before being cleared. Léo said: "We played particularly well in the second half, pushing Espanyol back and creating chances. For one of those chances, the ball rebounded off the post and hit their goalkeeper, yet still didn't go in."

'An excellent team'
Benfica will need to put the setback behind them promptly as they bid to close the three-point gap to Portuguese league leaders FC Porto when they take on SC Braga on Monday. Former Brazilian international Léo insisted they could draw comfort from their European run, saying: "Everybody saw tonight that Benfica have an excellent team and a strong group of players. We thought we were good enough to go further but it wasn't to be, so now we will focus on the league and do everything we can to win the title."