With Portuguese clubs having never beaten Rangers at Ibrox, the Lisbon media had its doubts as to whether Benfica would get the qualification for the Europa League’s quarter-finals over Philippe Clement and co.
After the first leg finished 2-2 in Lisbon, it was expected that the Eagles were about to face a big challenge in Glasgow, needing an unprecedented achievement to get a win in the 90 minutes against Rangers.
Benfica did beat Rangers 1-0, and as Bancada shares some quotes from former rival Carlos Barbosa da Cruz, he claims they were just lucky.
Speaking to CMTV, the former Sporting CP president didn’t want to give Eagles manager Roger Schmidt that much credit for the win, and recalled the difficulties he had at Ibrox when overseeing the Lions.
“Schmidt achieved a remarkable thing, which was to break the curse of Ibrox Park. I once went to Ibrox to watch Sporting and when I sat down it was already 3-0,” said Carlos Barbosa da Cruz.
“Clearly Mr. Schmidt is a lucky man, he’s categorically a lucky man, I think that’s what defines him the most.”
Benfica’s win against Rangers is just one of the reasons why Sporting are bitter about last night, because they themselves were knocked out of the Europa League by Atalanta in Italy.
Now it’s up to them to keep fighting for the Portuguese league title, as they are one point ahead of the Eagles, with a game in hand.
