Benfica with one foot in Champions League quarters after beating Club Brugge

• Benfica beat Club Brugge 2-0 in Belgium in a Champions League clash.
• The club is now one foot into the Champions League quarterfinals.
• The loss of Enzo Fernandez has not had a significant impact on them.

Benfica eased to a 2-0 victory over Club Brugge in Belgium in the first leg of their last-16 contest on Wednesday, closing down on a spot in this season’s Champions League quarterfinals.

In the second half at the Jan Breydelstadion, both goals were scored by substitute David Neres, who took advantage of shoddy defense late in the game to put distance between the teams. Joao Mario opened the scoring from the penalty spot six minutes after the halftime break.

When the teams meet in Lisbon for the second leg on March 7, it will be expected that the Portuguese league leaders, who fell to Liverpool in the last eight last season, will finish the job.

“When you play the first leg away from home in a Champions League tie and win it is always a good first step. We are halfway the “Roger Schmidt, the Benfica coach, spoke to \the sports media.

This season, Schmidt’s club has only suffered one league defeat and finished first in their Champions League group, beating out Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain.

The loss of their star midfielder Enzo Fernandez, an Argentine World Cup winner who was traded to Chelsea for 121 million euros ($132 million) last month, does not seem to have had a significant impact on them.

Benfica absolutely outclassed Club Brugge, which had won only once in eight games since Scott Parker, a former England midfielder, took over as coach at the end of December.

“Naturally a 2-0 defeat isn’t something you can be happy with, but I have seen a lot of positive things in this game,” Parker said.

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“I’m just super proud of the team. After five weeks of coaching them, I’m finally seeing what I was looking for. But little mistakes lost us this game tonight.”

At the break, the visitors should have taken the lead when an unmarked Antonio Silva missed from close range when it appeared easier to score and Rafa Silva struck the post and bar after receiving an assist from Joao Mario.

The hosts, who were competing in the Champions League’s knockout round for the first time, did have the ball in the net just before halftime when a Denis Odoi header deflected into the goal, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Instead, Benfica took the lead immediately after the break, with Goncalo Ramos of Portugal helping to make it happen.

Prior to being hauled down by Jack Hendry in the area and earning his team a penalty, Ramos, who scored a hat-trick in Portugal’s 6-1 thrashing of Switzerland in the tournament in Qatar, squandered a wonderful opportunity to open the scoring.

Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet deflected Joao Mario’s penalty kick into the underside of the crossbar on its way in.

Midway through the second half, Rafa Silva and Ramos were replaced by Brazilian winger Neres and on-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Goncalo Guedes. Through their combined efforts, Benfica scored the game-winning second in the 88th minute.

Guedes assisted Neres with a pass, and Bjorn Meijer mishandled the ball, allowing the Benfica player to sneak in, breakthrough, and score.

In stoppage time, he had another attempt blocked for offside, but Club Brugge still has a tough road ahead of them.

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