Off-colour Benfica beaten 3-1 by Feyenoord at the Estádio da Luz | OneFootball

The Bruno Lage train skidded off the rails in Lisbon tonight as Benfica’s six-match winning run under the new coach came to an abrupt end against Feyenoord in the Champions League.

Ayase Ueda gave the Dutch team an early lead and Feyenoord penetrated Benfica’s defence with alarming ease all night, doubling their lead in the 33rd minute through Antoni Milambo.

The Eagles got back into the game thanks to yet another Kerem Aktürkoglu goal in the 66th minute, but could not work up a head of steam. And Milambo’s second goal to seal the deal late on summed up Benfica’s night with the home defence falling asleep when defending a free kick.

Tom Kundert reports from the Estádio da Luz.

Early strike

Bruno Lage selected what has become his go-to starting XI and confidence was high after Benfica’s magnificent performance to dispatch Atletico Madrid 4-0 in their previous Champions League match before the international break. It soon became apparent there would be no repeat of that memorable night.

In the 12th minute Feyenoord took the lead with a simple and well executed counter-attack. Quinten Timber threaded a through ball to Igor Paixão, the Brazilian winger speeding down the left flank and squaring a perfect low cross into the path of Ayase Ueda who side-footed the ball powerfully into the net without having to break his stride.

Atktürkoglu tried to respond immediately for Benfica but goalkeeper Wellenreuther gathered his long-range effort comfortably.

Play switched straight to the other end where Paixão smashed another long-range effort, this time the ball fizzing just past the post with Trubin struggling to reach it.

The chances kept coming Benfica unlucky not to equalise in the 20th minute as Di María’s wickedly delivered corner kick was headed against the inside of the post by Bah from point-blank range and bounced across goal.

Non-stop action

Timber’s shot from outside the box was then turned around the post as the game continued to resemble a basketball game with attempts at goal at either end coming thick and fast.

The large contingent of Feyenoord fans were celebrating doubling their lead in the 24th minute, Ueda poking the ball into the net following a goalmouth scramble, but Benfica the celebration rights soon switched to the home fans as VAR ruled out the goal for a foul by Lotomba on Otamendi in the buildup.

The relief among the Benfiquistas was short-lived however, as Antoni Milambo took advantage of passive defending, Otamendi the chief culprit, to fire low and hard from inside the box, the ball squirming under Trubin’s legs and into the net.

Benfica were all at sea at this stage, Feyenoord missing an opportunity to score a third when Ibrahim Osman shot from a tight angle with the unmarked Ueda screaming for him to cross the ball.

VAR busy

Otamendi headed a corner narrowly wide before it was Benfica’s turn to be denied by VAR. An excellent combination between Atktürkoglu and Aursnes allowed the Norwegian to tee up Pavlidis who thumped the ball into the net, but the Turk had received the ball in a offside position at the start of the move.

The half-time whistle blew with Benfica 2-0 down, the only hope for the hosts residing in the open nature of the game which promised more goals.

But it was the visitors who continued to look the most incisive on the attack and Feyenoord had the ball in the net again shortly before the hour mark. A well-flighted free kick was headed against the post by Trauner, with Hancko knocking in the rebound, but the centre-back had strayed offside and another lengthy VAR check resulted in the third goal of the night being ruled out.

Alvaro Carreras, like all of Benfica's players, failed to replicate the exhilarating form shown against Atletico Madrid in their last Champions League match

Atktürkoglu on the mark again

Lage made a double substitution in the 64th minute, bringing on Beste and Amdouni for Di María and Florentino Luís and the changes had an immediate impact. Beste was released on the left, the German’s cross-shot pushed by Wellenreuther straight into the path of Atktürkoglu who couldn’t miss. 2-1 and Benfica were right back in it, the volume among the home supporters turned up several notches.

The crowd were further roused when favourite Renato Sanches entered the fray, but Benfica were finding it difficult to create chances, the Dutch side doing a good job at breaking up play and stymying any rhythm to the game with constant stoppages for treatment for injured players, and delaying goal-kicks and throw-ins.

Amdouni fired an effort into the side-netting, an Atktürkoglu snapshot tested Wellenreuther while at the other end Igor Paixão sent two powerful efforts wide.

Too easy for Feyenoord

Feyenoord made the game safe in stoppage time with Benfica’s defending again leaving a lot to be desired. The Dutch won a free kick near the corner flag, with Igor Paixão gently rolling the ball to the edge of the box where the completely unmarked Milambo had time to pick his spot and side-foot the ball past the static Benfica defenders and goalkeeper.

That was that, with Feyenoord winning on Portuguese soil for the first time on their eighth attempt.

Reaction to defeat crucial ahead of crunch fixtures

Benfica had looked a transformed team since Bruno Lage replaced Roger Schmidt. The Portuguese coach had reeled off six successive victories with increasingly convincing displays.

As well as the upturn in results, the individual and collective improvement was plain to see in comparison to Schmidt’s Benfica, the zest brought by newcomer Atktürkoglu and the renewed vigour of Orkun Kökçü and Álvaro Carreras especially noticeable.

One bad game does not undo all of Lage’s good work, but for Benfica it is vital they bounce back quickly and make sure tonight’s display was “just a bad day at the office” and not something more systemic or longstanding.

With Sporting literally perfect in the league, and Porto also picking up practically all points available, Benfica are under pressure to win every Liga game after dropping five unexpected points under Schmidt.

With two tough away trips to Bayern Munich and Monaco coming up in the Champions League, and a league encounter against Porto in between, the next month could go a long way to defining Benfica’s season.

Benfica: Anatoliy Trubin, Alexander Bah, Nicolás Otamendi, Tomás Araújo, Álvaro Carreras, Florentino Luís (Jan-Niklas Beste, 64’), Orkun Kökçü (Renato Sanches, 72’), Fredrik Aursnes, Ángel Di María (Zeki Amdouni, 64’), Vangelis Pavlidis (Arthur Cabral, 72’), Kerem Aktürkoglu

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