maxi pereira said sl benfica were feeling no "extra pressure" in their must-win game at home to olympique lyonnais, adding: "we are fit, calm and ready to grab the three points."
after losing 2-0 at olympique lyonnais it is fast approaching all-or-nothing time for sl benfica when the teams meet again in lisbon on tuesday but maxi pereira says the home side "do not feel any extra pressure".
benfica lie third in uefa champions league group b, three points behind fc schalke 04 and six adrift of lyon, after away defeats by both those sides. it is a time for brave hearts but in uruguayan defender pereira, benfica have a man with just those qualities.
he proved that last season with goals in both legs of their dramatic uefa europa league round of 16 elimination of olympique de marseille, though it is the result, not personal glory, that the 26-year-old is after. "those goals are not important now, what we really want is to win tomorrow," pereira said. "if i score, even better, but what matters now is that the teams wins. we don't feel any extra pressure; we all know what is at stake. we are playing at home in front of our fans against a big team like the [marseille] match."
the right-back, a key player in uruguay's run to the fifa world cup semi-finals, has worked his way back into the benfica lineup, having been a substitute in the opening 2-0 defeat of hapoel tel-aviv fc. he relishes these occasions. "pressure in these matches is always high, but we are fit, calm and ready to grab the three points," he said. "you could say we are favourites because we are at home, where we are always strong. but it will be a tight match between two big teams, so we cannot speak about favourites. i don't think about it. it will be 50-50 for each side."
lyon have several key players missing and others doubtful, but that is not distracting pereira. "we don't think in terms of who is going to play but about what we can do as a team," he said. "if an important player are missing, another will perform like him or even better. our role is to work and think that we can put on a good performance."
among those in doubt for lyon is pereira's potential direct opponent, left winger michel bastos, but he expects to be fit despite a thigh problem. "i feel better, i can do all my moves with no pain, i still have 24 hours before the match, so i expect to play," the brazilian international said. "benfica are favourites because they are at home, they showed their quality in lyon. when we play at this high level it's normal to have injuries, so i don't agree that physically we are breaking down."
two fábio coentrão goals and further strikes from alan kardec and javi garcía sealed a crucial win for benfica despite a late rally from the visitors.
sl benfica breathed new life into their uefa champions league group b campaign after holding off a late olympique lyonnais rally in a pulsating encounter.
no french side had defeated the former european champions in lisbon in nine previous attempts, and after alan kardec had opened the scoring on 20 minutes, the writing looked to be on the wall for claude puel's men. fábio coentrão and javi garcía extended the hosts' advantage before the break, and last season's semi-finalists were rocking when the outstanding coentrão grabbed his second on 67 minutes.
although yoann gourcuff, bafétimbi gomis and dejan lovren all then scored to set up a tantalising finish, ol failed to get the point they required to seal qualification. the french side remain top of the section, however, ahead of their trip to fc schalke 04 on 24 november, when benfica will look to continue their revival at hapoel tel-aviv fc.
the visitors had the ball in the net in the fourth minute when jimmy briand slammed in miralem pjanić's cross, but benfica's nemesis from a fortnight ago was flagged offside. eagles coach jorge jesus hoped coentrão's forward bursts would make up for the absence of the banned nicolás gaitán, and a determined run from the full-back brought him a shooting opportunity that he curved over the bar.
it was a brief reprieve as kardec soon struck, powering a header past hugo lloris from carlos martins' free-kick. lyon responded well, but were caught on the counterattack on 32 minutes. after the visitors had a free-kick cleared, martins stormed down the right and delivered for coentrão to hammer in a sumptuous volley at the back post.
ten minutes later jesus' side cemented their position of strength, martins completing a hat-trick of assists by swinging in a corner for garcía to glance a header beyond lloris. the portuguese side continued to pick off lyon on the break and confirmed their superiority with a fourth goal midway through the second period. again coentrão was the beneficiary of martins' vision, racing onto his pass and lifting a delightful lob over the exposed lloris.
lyon finally made an impression as gourcuff thumped in substitute alexandre lacazette's 75th-minute pull-back, and when lacazette flicked on gourcuff's corner for fellow replacement gomis to stab in, a nervy last five minutes were set up for the home side. lovren pulled another back with a looping header at the death but benfica held on.
