UCL: Benfica better than Juventus - Jorge Jesus

Jorge Jesus

May 2, 2014 12:47:10 AM
The 59-year-old shrugged off Antonio
Conte's criticisms after Thursday's
0-0 draw in Turin, hailing his
defenders' "masterclass" on the night
Jorge Jesus believes Benfica proved
themselves to be better than Juventus as
they reached the Europa League final on
Thursday.
The Portuguese champions held Juventus to
a 0-0 draw in the second leg of their semi-
final tie in Turin, adding to their 2-1 win last
week to see them through to the final for the
second campaign in a row.
After losing to Chelsea in last season's
decider, Benfica have another chance to
claim silverware when they face Sevilla in
the final at Juventus Stadium on May 14 and
Jesus was adamant that his players
deserved to progress more than the
Bianconeri.
"Benfica earned the final because we played
better in both legs, better than Juve in Lisbon
and Turin," Jesus told Sky Sport Italia.
"Juve are a good team, but defensively
Benfica played very well.
"We had the advantage from the first leg and
controlled all their movements in the second
leg. We deserved to reach the final because
we were better than Juve."
Despite the absence of goals, there was still
plenty of action in Italy as three players were
sent off during the clash.
Benfica's Argentine midfielder Enzo Perez
was the first to go on 67 minutes after his
second bookable offence, ruling him out of
the final.
Jesus will also be without Serbian striker
Lazar Markovic, who was sent off during the
closing stages following a touchline
altercation with Juventus substitute Mirko
Vucinic, who also received his marching
orders despite not being on the pitch.
"I thought it wasn't easy to make up for
these situations with Juve attacking, but we
knew that we had to stay calm and our
players maintained their heads," Jesus
added.
"I think Benfica gave a masterclass on how
to defend and it's not easy with nine men on
the field against Pablo Osvaldo, Carlos Tevez
and Fernando Llorente."
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