Benfica entered the quarterfinals with a 7-1 aggregate victory
Benfica has the advantage at home in the second leg on the evening of March 7. In the second minute, Joao Mario, who opened the scoring in the first leg, put the ball into the net of Club Brugge. However, after VAR check, the referee determined offside. And refused to recognize the goal.
Club Brugge holds the ball 44%, but is still far behind Benfica in terms of efficiency. In the 38th minute, the home team opened the scoring from a counterattack. After Gonzalo Ramos' cross, midfielder Rafa Silva maneuvered between the three defenders and then shot his right foot into the net of goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.
Silva's goal raised the final score to 3-0 and left Club Brugge almost without fighting spirit. 45+2 minutes, Benfica again scored. This time, Ramos dribbled the ball in the penalty area and then shot into the near corner.
Benfica did not give Club Brugge a chance to bounce back after the break. They maintained intensity, pressure from midfield and continued to bombard goalkeeper Mignolet's goal. In the 57th minute, Ramos completed a personal double with a left foot ball from Alex Grimaldo's pass.
The goal to make it 3-0 in the second leg was Ramos' 23rd in 35 matches from the beginning of the 2022-2023 season. In particular, the 21-year-old striker has four goals in the Champions League qualifying round, one goal in the group stage and two goals in the 1/8 round. Between 23 goals for the club this season, Ramos also has one in a friendly match Portugal beat Nigeria 4-0 and three goals in a 6-1 win over Switzerland in the round of 16 of the World Cup.
Benfica continued to attack after Ramos' brace. In the 70th minute, the referee gave the home team a penalty from the situation where Abakar Sylla cut down Gilberto Junior in the penalty area. After that, Mario tricked goalkeeper Mignolet on the 11m mark, raising the score to 4-0.
Benfica brought on three substitutes early in the second half. One of them, David Neres made it 5-0 in the 77th minute. The former Ajax striker hit the left corner of the corner to score after Joao Neves' cross.
Club Brugge only managed to remove one goal in both legs. Bjorn Meijer created a masterpiece in the 87th minute with a left-footed shot that sent the ball into the high corner from 16 yards.
On the way to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Benfica is yet to lose a match. They won all four matches in the preliminary round, won four and drew two matches in the group stage and won both round of 16 matches.
