Braga and Benfica round off Europa League group stage with win and draw
The group stage of European competitions in the 2020/21 season has come to end, with Porto, Benfica and Braga all finishing second in their respective groups to make progress to the knockout phase.
In the Champions League, Porto beat Olympiacos 2-0 in Athens on Wednesday thanks to a goal in each half from Otávio (penalty) and Mateus Uribe to complete a superb campaign. The Dragons kept a clean sheet for a fifth successive match after the opening day defeat away at Manchester City, and accumulated a total of 13 points in Group C.
Braga can also be proud of their efforts in Europa League Group G. Like Porto, the Arsenalistas accumulated 13 points after a 2-0 victory against Ukrainian outfit Zorya at the Quarry tonight, courtesy of an own goal and a Ricardo Horta strike. Benfica twice came from behind in Belgium to draw 2-2 against Standard Liege and finish the group phase unbeaten with 3 victories and 3 draws. Everton and Pizzi (penalty) hit the net for the Eagles.
Sérgio Conceição, FC Porto coach, after Olympiacos 0-2 Porto:
“Strategically the players put the game plan into practice perfectly. Our central midfielders Romário and Otávio did fantastically well, given that our wide players dropped back because Olympiacos played with a lot of width through their full-backs. The implementation of our strategy, in these small details, is down to the focus and the ambition of the players to understand these details, which makes all the difference.
“Of the 16 teams that have made progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League, only two teams do not belong to Europe’s four main leagues and that is praiseworthy in itself. The players are to be congratulated.”
Ricardo Horta, Braga midfielder and goal-scoring substitute, after Braga 2-0 Zorya:
“I came on with the intention of helping the team, which I managed with a goal and we won, which was the most important thing. The main focus was getting the win and hoping Leicester didn’t win.
“We played an excellent group phase and ended up with the same number of points as Leicester, which is praiseworthy. The draw? This Europa League is looking like a Champions League. We want to be in the midst of these huge clubs. Without any fear at all.”
Jorge Jesus, Benfica coach, after Standard Liege 2-2 Benfica:
“It was a good group phase, given that we were unbeaten. I think we played a good game; Standard were a team that played nice football. It was a well-fought match, with plenty of goal-scoring opportunities, more for Benfica. We played better in the first half than the second.
“We made some changes, I was happy with the players who came into the starting line-up today, like João Ferreira, who played for the first time in the Europa League. We’ve been preparing him for several weeks. Pedrinho also played very well, and Helton showed security. We didn’t lose in this group phase, which was very good, and we gave some different players a runout which is very good to motivate them.”
Ranking points / Tough assignments await
Porto, Braga and Benfica accumulated 11 victories, 5 draws and just 2 defeats in their 18 matches in the group stage of the Champions League and Europa League this season, which is a huge boost for Portugal’s position in the UEFA club coefficient rankings table.
However, for the Primeira Liga’s three remaining representatives in Europe, it may require some stunning results to add more points.
Porto’s possible opponents in the last sixteen of the Champions League are Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Chelsea, Juventus or PSG. Whichever opponent Porto are drawn against, reaching the quarter-finals appears a daunting task. That said, the way the Blue and Whites competed against Manchester City will give Sérgio Conceição and his men hope they can prolong their run in the competition.
As for Benfica and Braga, although they are in the second-tier competition, given that they will be unseeded, the list of possible opponents in the round of 32 also contains some big names. The full list is as follows: Manchester United, Ajax, Shakthar, Brugge, Roma, Arsenal, Villarreal, Dinamo Zagreb, Hoffenheim, Bayer Leverkusen, PSV Eindhoven, Napoli, Leicester City, AC Milan or Tottenham Hotspur.
By Tom Kundert
