Under-pressure Benfica coach Roger Schmidt feels his midfield duo ‘dominated’ John Lundstram and Mohamed Diomande during Thursday’s 2-2 UEFA Europa League draw in Lisbon.
With the full-time whistle greeted by jeers from those remaining in a half-full Estadio da Luz – this was not the response the supporters wanted following that 5-0 shellacking by bitter rivals FC Porto – Schmidt came out swinging in his post-match press conference.
Benfica, he said, deserved to beat Rangers. Not only that, they ‘dominated’ the midfield battle, the former Bayer Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven boss feeling that his decision to start Florentino Luis alongside the much-coveted Joao Neves was justified on the night.
Rangers frustrate Benfica in Lisbon
“I’m very satisfied, they both played a very good game. We knew that the opponent was going to focus on long balls and that we would have to win second balls,” Schmidt argues, speaking to A Bola.
“Florentino presses and showed his qualities. Together with Joao Neves, they dominated the midfield.”
Ok, yes Benfica did maintain nearly 70 per cent of the possession, while mustering 24 shots on goal to Rangers’ nine – Jack Butland excelling again between the sticks. But statistics only tell you so much, and the performance of Mohamed Diomande in particular was not one of a player ‘dominated’ in the Portuguese capital.
Diomande, so impressive since his January arrival from Nordsjaelland, assisted Tom Lawrence’s seventh minute opener with a gorgeous clipped cross from the left.
And while Diomande and his midfield partner Lundstram certainly saw a lot less of the ball than Benfica’s own central duo, what Schmidt appears to be missing is that this was maybe all part of Philippe Clement’s plan, Rangers keeping their shape out of possession and breaking quickly via the drive and ball-carrying talents of Lundstram and Diomande.
For the most part, it worked pretty well too, even if a seemingly-exhausted Lundstram gave the ball away far more than Clement would have liked after the interval.
Philippe Clement delighted by performance
“I am really proud about the performance,” Clement said during his own post-match press conference. “I think we were really close by making this miracle.
“We were really close. We also had an opportunity or two with Fabio (Silva) and Cyriel (Dessers) to make it 3-1, and it would have changed also a lot in this game. But I am really, really proud about my team.
“They showed character, they showed solidarity, they showed personality, also with the ball. And we scored two really good goals with good football. I am really someone who is demanding towards them but I cannot ask more than what they give today.
“They gave their all. Everything.”
It remains to be seen whether Clement – a highly versatile tactician who has few qualms about adapting his system to best exploit the weaknesses of the opposition – employs the same sit-deep and spring-quickly approach in next week’s second-leg at Ibrox.
