LISBON: Benfica continued their good run with a comfortable 5-1 win over Club Brugge on Tuesday to seal their spot in the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the second straight season.
The Portuguese team advanced 7-1 on aggregate following their 2-0 win in the first leg in Belgium. Rafa Silva, Joao Mario and David Neres scored a goal each, and Gonçalo Ramos found the net twice for Benfica, who hadn’t made it to the last eight in consecutive seasons in more than five decades.
They were eliminated by eventual runners-up Liverpool last year. Brugge, making their debut in the knockout stage of the Champions League, plunged deeper into crisis under coach Scott Parker.
The team have won only twice in 12 matches since the English manager took over in December. The Belgian champions were one of the surprises of the group stage, finishing second to Porto and ahead of Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid.