Benfica boss backs himself into a corner against Rangers as het-up boo boys lampoon madcap tactics

Benfica boss Roger Schmidt has defended himself after doing a Craig Levein and playing with no strikers, in a crunch derby game ahead of the Europa League showdown with Rangers.

Rangers travel to Portugal next week for the first leg of the Round of 16 clash and will be encouraged after Benfica crashed to their first defeat in any competition since November when they lost 2-1 at bitter rivals Sporting in the first leg of the Portuguese Cup semi-final. German boss Schmidt sprang a major tactical surprise when he copied current St Johnstone boss Levein's infamous 4-6-0 formation when he was Scotland boss for a vital Euro qualifier in Prague in 2010 when his side lost 1-0 to the Czech Republic.

He used Portugal international Rafa Silva as an advanced midfielder and only changed it in the second half. But he insisted that wasn't the reason they lost. Schmidt said: "We have to accept that sometimes it's difficult to play against a good team. It was difficult with the pressure and their counterattack.

"In the first half Sporting were better. We lost a lot of balls and up front, we weren't really in the game. We were better in the second half. We recovered and could have got a draw.

"Sporting had difficulties when we started playing with a striker. We won important duels and that's what kept us in the game. We scored one goal and we had a goal disallowed for offside that should have been allowed - and I would have said that even if Sporting had scored it.

"We haven't lost in a long time, but if we were ever going to lose a game I would have picked this match because we have a chance to recover the tie in the second leg at Estadio da Luz."