The Eagles coach freely admitted that his side had
performed poorly in Istanbul, but claimed that they had been suffering
from fatigue after a derby game at the weekend
Benfica boss Jorge Jesus is adamant that his side will bounce back from their 1-0 Europa League defeat to Fenerbahce when the two sides meet again next week, declaring: "Everything will be different in Lisbon."
The Eagles were nowhere near their best in Istanbul and had already seen their hosts hit the woodwork three times before Egemen Korkaz secured a 1-0 victory with 18 minutes to go.
Jesus had no complaints about the final result but was keen to stress that fatigue had been a major factor in his side's strangely subdued showing.
"We had a very tiring match against Sporting Lisbon at the weekend and we did not arrive here completely ready," he explained to reporters after the game.
"In Lisbon, everything will be different. We still have another game so we remain hopeful of going through."
It was put to Jesus that his side might have been guilty of complacency, but he insisted that this was simply not the case.
"Weak teams do not reach semi-finals," he pointed out. "So that Fenerbahce played a good game was not a surprise to us.
"Fenerbahce were much better than us tonight but, like I say, it will be different in Lisbon."
Benfica are bidding to reach their first continental tournament decider since being beaten 1-0 by AC Milan in the 1990 European Cup final.
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