The Champions League group stage came to an end for half of the participants in this year's tournament last night, with plenty of Portuguese protagonists.
Benfica fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to Atletico Madrid, and as a result finished second in Group C. Nevertheless, the Eagles qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament for only the third time this century.
Elsewhere Cristiano Ronaldo was busy breaking records again, hitting four goals past hapless Malmo in an 8-0 victory for Real Madrid. English giants Manchester United are out of the Champions League after losing 3-2 in Germany to Wolfsburg, for whom Portugal international Vieirinha scored one of the goals.
Benfica 1-2 Atletico Madrid
Benfica started the match knowing a draw would be enough to win their group, as they were level on points with Atletico Madrid and had beaten the Spaniards at the Vicente Calderon back in September. However, Atletico returned the favour, running out 2-1 winners after a determined and classy performance, especially in a one-sided first half.
Atletico manager Diego Simeone claimed beforehand it made no difference to him finishing 1st or 2nd in the group, but the Spaniards seemed intent on securing top spot in an impressive first 45 minutes. Benfica goalkeeper Júlio César was called on to make a series of superb saves, but was powerless to prevent Saúl from giving the visitors the lead in the 33rd minute, the 21-year-old calmly finishing off a slick move.
The second half was a different story with Benfica coming back strongly, young midfielder Renato Sanches again showing tremendous potential, giving as good as he got against the powerful Spanish side in the central midfield position. Mitrolglou was close to scoring an equaliser immediately upon the restart, but Atletico doubled their lead with a breakaway goal as Vietto turned in a low Carrasco cross on 55 minutes.
To their credit Benfica did not drop their heads, and Mitrolglou's goal 15 minutes from full time triggered the best spell of the match from the home team. A sustained period of pressure was almost rewarded when Jiménez's header went just the wrong side of the post. But Benfica could not find the equaliser and will await the draw next Monday hoping to avoid the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Unstoppable Ronaldo
By all accounts Cristiano Ronaldo is not having his best season, yet even when not at the top of this game the Portugal captain is capable of adding to his multiple records. Ronaldo began the match as provider, setting up Real Madrid's first two goals against Swedish champions Malmo. He then got into the goal action himself, scoring four times in a 20-minute spell either side of half time. As such, Ronaldo's total goals in this season's Champions League rises to 11, which is a record for the group stage of the competition.
Another Portuguese international was also smiling after last night's games. Wolfsburg right-back Vieirinha was on the end of a fantastic move in the 29th minute to put the German outfit 2-1 ahead against Manchester United. Wolfsburg would eventually win 3-2, a result that sees them finish top of Group B and which relegates Manchester United to the Europa League.
by Tom Kundert
