Benfica Lisbon v FC Bruges soccer Champions League round of 12 second leg, March 7, 2023. Goncalo Ramos (second from left) of Benfica scores a goal.
London – Footballers Chelsea and Benfica Lisbon are the first quarter-finalists of the Champions League. The London team defeated Dortmund 2:0 in the home rematch of the round of 16 and turned the doubleheader after a 0:1 away defeat. In the 53rd minute, Kai Havertz decided from a repeated penalty against his German compatriots. After an opening 2-0 victory in Bruges, Benfica crushed the knockout phase newcomer 5-1 in the return leg and confirmed the promotion without any problems.
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Photo gallery: Football Champions League 2022/23
Chelsea, who dominated the entire Champions League the year before, made it to the quarter-finals for the third time in a row. Dortmund, on the other hand, did not confirm their current form and in the spring part of the season suffered their first defeat after the previous 10 competitive victories. Benfica, for whom Goncalo Ramos scored twice today, will be in the quarter-finals for the second year in a row.
The game at Stamford Bridge started ten minutes late due to Dortmund's problems arriving at the stadium and the visitors came under pressure early on. In addition, they lost the injured Brandt in the fifth minute, and the scorer of the only goal from the first match, Adeyemi, was also missing due to health reasons. Nevertheless, the second team of the German league could have opened the scoring, but in the 17th minute, Reus' attempt from a free kick was saved by goalkeeper Arrizabalaga.
After that, only Chelsea threatened before the break, even though they lacked a number of injured supports. Havertz hit the post in the 28th minute, and against his compatriots he could not rejoice even 10 minutes later, when his goal was prevented by a team-mate's offside.
At the end of the 43rd minute, the home team had already prevailed due to the increasing pressure. Sterling missed at first, but on the second attempt he already beat Meyer. He scored his 27th goal in the Champions League, only former striker Rooney with 30 goals is better among English players.
Two minutes after the break, Chilwell hit Wolf's arm from close range in the box and Dutch referee Makkelie awarded a penalty after the intervention of the video referee and a long delay. Havertz only aimed at the post again, but as two of Dortmund's defenders ran into the box prematurely, the penalty kick was repeated and the 23-year-old German midfielder did not hesitate this time.
Borussia added significantly, but did not convert either of the two big chances and did not avert the first competitive defeat in the spring. Dortmund lost for the sixth time in a row on English soil. Chelsea, who are in 10th place in the English league, after the initial 0:1 away defeat, turned the fourth cup double-header in the home rematch.
Benfica failed to manage only one of the previous 21 cup double-headers in which they won away from home, and they confirmed the statistic today. In the second minute, Joao Mário's goal after a pass from ex-Slavic Bah was disallowed due to the previous offside, but in the 38th minute the favorite was already in the lead. After a quick break and a cross from the left by Ramos, Rafa Silva finished with a long foot exactly at the far post.
In the second minute of the first half, Ramos turned around two defenders in the box for a change and fired a hard shot at the goalkeeper Mignolet. who celebrated his 35th birthday on Monday. At that moment, it was already practically clear that the newcomer to the elimination phase from Bruges would also be eliminated in the sixth cup double-header after the initial home defeat.
Benfica completely dominated and scored three more times after the break. In the 57th minute, striker Ramos scored for the second time in the match, and at 21 years and 260 days, he became the second youngest player since the 2003/04 season to contribute three goals in one match in the knockout stages of the competition.
V Joao Mario converted a penalty kick in the 71st minute and broke the Champions League record with the fifth goal from the penalty spot in one season (without a shootout). Substitute Neres made it 5-0, and in the 87th minute Meijer corrected the situation with a good shot. The leader of the Portuguese league did not lose even the tenth duel against the Belgian opponent at his stadium and did not find a winner even in the 19th home competitive game of the season.
Benfica Lisbon – FC Bruges 5:1 (2:0)
Goals: 57. and 45.+2 Ramos, 38. R. Silva, 71. Joao Mário from pen., 77. Neres – 87 .Meier. Referee: Meler – Eyisoy, Komurcuoglu (all Tur.) – Munuera (video, Sp.). ŽK: Otamendi – Jaremčuk, Lang, Sylla, Meijer. Spectators: 60,960. First match: 2:0, Benfica advanced.
Lineups:
Benfica: Vlachodimos – Bah (63. Gilberto), A. Silva (88. Veríssimo), Otamendi (74. Morato), Grimaldo – Florentino, Chiquinho (63. Neres) – Joao Mário (74. Neves), R. Silva, Aursnes – Ramos. Coach: Schmidt.
Bruges: Mignolet – Mata (62. Odoi), Mechele, Sylla – Buchanan, Nielsen, Vanaken (74. Rits), Sowah (75. Nusa) , Meijer – Lang (46. Onyedika), Jaremchuk (62. Jutgla). Coach: Parker.
Chelsea FC – Borussia Dortmund 2:0 (1:0)
Goals: 43. Sterling, 53. Havertz from pen. Referees: Makkelie – Honig, De Vries – Van Boekel (video, all Dutch). ŽK: Arrizabalaga, Fernández, Chilwell, Cucurella – Süle, Wolf, Bellingham. Spectators: 38,882. First match: 0:1, Chelsea advanced.
Lineups:
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga – Fofana, Koulibaly, Cucurella – James, Kovačič (83. Pulisic ), Fernández (87. Zakaria), Chilwell – Sterling (83. Loftus-Cheek), Havertz, Félix (67. Gallagher). Coach: Potter.
Dortmund: Meyer – Wolf, Süle, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro – Can – Brandt (5. Reyna), Bellingham, Özcan (64. Bynoe-Gittens), Reus – Haller (77. Malen). Coach: Terzic.
