Benfica hold on late to progress in the Champions League | OneFootball

Dream journey in Europe. On the afternoon of this Wednesday, March 18, the junior team of Benfica secured a place in the semi-finals after defeating Inter Milan 3-2 in the UEFA Youth League quarter-finals. Federico Coletta, Tiago Freitas, and Francisco Silva scored the goals for the Eagles.

Diogo Ferreira, Daniel Banjaqui, Rui Silva, Gonçalo Oliveira, José Neto, Rafael Quintas, Federico Coletta, Miguel Figueiredo, Anísio Cabral, Tiago Freitas, and Jaden Umeh were Vítor Vinha's initial choices. Leonardo Lopes, Duarte Soares, Mauro Furtado, Tiago Parente, Gil Neves, Eduardo Fernandes, Stevan Manuel, Francisco Silva, and Gustavo Ferreira started on the bench.

Playing on the Milanese formation's home ground - where the Benfica coach criticized the state of the pitch - the team in red took control of the match, creating several dangerous opportunities but failing to capitalize. Until, in the 26th minute, Federico Coletta opened the scoring, leaving Benfica ahead at halftime, 1-0.

In the second half, the Eagles came out eager to settle the match and, in less than 10 minutes of the second half, were already leading 2-0, thanks to a penalty converted by Tiago Freitas. However, shortly after, Inter Milan responded and made it 2-1. As the final stretch approached, another response from Benfica, with Francisco Silva sealing the 3-1. Before the 90', the Nerazzurri made it 3-2.

With this result, the Club of Light continues its excellent performance in the under-19 European competition. Having secured victory against Inter Milan, Benfica confirmed its presence in the UEFA Youth League semi-finals, alongside Club Brugge - the next opponent -, Real Madrid, and PSG.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.