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The Portuguese boss wasn't ashamed of his team's defeat at the hands of the Blaugrana, admitting that they had played against one of the footballing superpowers

Benfica coach Jorge Jesus has spoken positively of Barcelona, despite feeling aggrieved that his side went in behind at the break after matching the Catalan giants for the first half of their Champions League game on Tuesday night.

Goals from Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas were enough to secure the win for Barca, with little in the way of reply from the Portuguese side, whilst registering over 70 per cent of possession in the process.

"We were up against the best team in the world, a side that always has 70% or more of possession and that dominate all their opponents," admitted Jesus, speaking to reporters.

"They have only got the two best players in Europe! We played well in the first half and didn't deserve to be losing at half-time. Barca were very effective and that was the difference until they made it 2-0. After that, it was even more difficult."

Despite his admiration, Jesus did feel that his Benfica outfit could have done more to disrupt Barca's trademark passing game.

"We had to be more aggressive towards the man that was carrying the ball. That was the message I gave the players, but Barcelona don't lose possession.

"And then they have an extra-terrestrial [Lionel Messi] that does the rest. The other teams will play against Barcelona and also lose, so they will have the same margin of error as us," he reasoned.


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