Benfica have one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals after second-half goals from Joao Mario and David Neres saw them beat knockout round debutants Club Brugge 2-0 in Wednesday’s last-16 first leg.
Brugge gifted their visitors two huge chances at Jan Breydel Stadium and were duly punished.
Jack Hendry’s foul on Goncalo Ramos allowed Joao Mario to score from the spot six minutes after the restart, with Simon Mignolet only able to push the ball in off the crossbar.
Fredrik Aursnes, Antonio Silva and Rafa Silva passed up opportunities in the space of six first-half minutes, but Neres was on hand to ensure their misses did not prove costly when he capitalised on Bjorn Meijer’s mistake in the 88th minute.
Scott Parker – the third English manager to take charge of a non-English team in the Champions League, after Bobby Robson and Gary Neville – saw his side have a Denis Odoi goal disallowed for offside before the break.
But Brugge never did enough to test Benfica, who won a third straight game in the competition for the first time since the 2005-06 campaign.
Parker has won just one of his eight games in charge of Brugge, and they face a tough ask in the second leg on March 7 if they are to go and extend their dream run, especially given Benfica are unbeaten at home in all competitions this season.