Benfica closed in on a place in the quarter-finals of this season’s Champions League after easing to a 2-0 victory over Club Brugge in Belgium in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday.

Both goals came in the second half at the Jan Breydelstadion, with Joao Mario opening the scoring from the penalty spot six minutes after the restart and substitute David Neres putting daylight between the teams by pouncing on sloppy defending to add another goal late on.

The Portuguese league leaders, who lost to Liverpool in the last eight last season, will be expected to complete the job when the sides meet in Lisbon for the second leg on March 7.

Roger Schmidt’s team have lost just once in their domestic league in this campaign and topped their Champions League group ahead of Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.

Read the full story on sportsdesk.com.mt...

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