Lima on Benfica thunderbolt against Juventus

Four days after striking both goals in SL Benfica's Portuguese title-clinching victory, Lima was at it again with a late winner in the 2-1 UEFA Europa League semi-final first-leg defeat of Juventus. The thunderous shot on 84 minutes came not long after Carlos Tévez had cancelled out Ezequiel Garay's early headed goal, and Lima talked UEFA.com through his superb finish while Claudio Marchisio was pleased with Juve's performance as they attempt to earn a home final next Thursday.

Lima, Benfica forward
I'm very happy to help the team once again. It was a difficult match against a great team and my goal was important. Once again we won at home and showed the strength of our squad. Now we will go to Italy with a positive spirit.

We were not expecting to concede a goal but it happened. We must acknowledge that this was no ordinary opponent. It was Juventus. But the important thing is that we won and we have an advantage. [For the goal] I tried to read the whole play I and saw that Enzo [Pérez] passed the ball to Ivan [Cavaleiro]. I thought that the ball could go through that space and I was already prepared to take a powerful shot. Fortunately I got it right.

We will go to Turin as a united team to try to go through with humility. We have the quality and the ability to achieve that.

Ezequiel Garay, Benfica defender
We had a great game and it was a great team effort after we secured the domestic title. We scored twice and that is very important. It would have bene important not to concede but Juventus are a very tough and difficult team full of great players. But we tried to score a second and we got it.

Now everything will be decided at their home. We have confidence in our football and this way we can achieve many things.

Claudio Marchisio, Juventus midfielder
It was important to score at least one goal, it's a pity to have conceded the second late on because we had more chances than Benfica in the second half. We could and we should have kept the draw, at least. We did not manage to but we will try to turn things around in the return leg.

I think this was one of Juventus's best performances in Europe this season, if not the best. It's an important sign, it means we are growing as a team because it's not always easy to play well at the end of the season when you are missing a few players and legs are a bit tired. We certainly played a good game tonight.