Setting The Standards For Other English Clubs!!
Manchester United had outclassed Benfica with a 2-0 margin at Old Trafford on Tuesday, as they advanced to the knockout stages of the competition. The Red Devils had earned a 4th straight win in the group stage of the Champions League, which meant that they was no doubt about their qualification now. They are most probably going to the next round as group topper of Group A. They earned all 12 points from their 4 encounters so far. Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho had opted to play with a 4-2-3-1 formation for this match against Benfica. David De Gea had started in the Goal for Manchester United in the match. Matteo Darmian, Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling and Daley Blind had started in the United defense. Scott McTominay and Nemanja Matic had featured in the holding midfield for Manchester United in the match. Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial were playing in the attacking midfield against Benfica in the Champions League. Romelu Lukaku was leading the Manchester United forward line from the upfront.
Benfica manager Rui Pitoria had tried to go for all out attack with a 4-3-3 formation. Mile Svilar started in the match against Manchester United. Alex Grimaldo, Jardel, Ruben Dias and Douglas were playing in the defense for Benfica in this match. Pizzi, Fejsa and Samaris were featuring in the midfield for them. Diogo Goncalves, Raul Jimenez and Eduardo Salvio were the attacking trio of Benfica at the upfront of the field.
Ruben Dias was booked in the 6th minute of the match due to a bad foul. Anthony Martial’s penalty was saved by Benfica goalkeeper Svilar. Eric Bailly and Jesse Lingard were booked in the first half. At 45th minute of the match Nemanja Matic’s shot had struck the post and the ball entered into the Benfica Goal with a deflection from the Benfica Goalkeeper Svilar. The first half had ended with United leading with 1 goal.
At the 46th minute of the match Jesse Lingard was injured. So he was replaced by Henkirh Mkhitaryan in the attacking Midfield position. At 64th minute Alex Grimaldo was subbed off to give Eliseu a chance to display his skills. Juan Mata was subbed off to give Ander Herrera a chance to play in the defensive midfield. Mourinho wished to strengthen his defense to keep the lead till the end of the match. Benfica’s attacker Seferovic came in the field in place of Jimenez. Rashford also came in the field in place of Martial for United. At 78th minute Daley Blind’s penalty had given United a Lead of 2-0 in the match. Manchester United were able to keep the lead throughout the remaining period of the match. The match had ended with United being victorious with a margin of 2-0.
With this victory United confirmed their qualification to the next round of the UEFA Champions League. Benfica are now also out of the contention with losing all 4 matches of Group Stage so far. Manchester United will now travel to London to play against Chelsea on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.
