An injured Rosengard had to see dreams of Champions League promotion fade away in Portugal.
After a confused defensive play from the Swedish champions, Benfica managed to score the only goal of the match.
“It’s like we hide sometimes,” Mia Pearson tells DAZN.
Rosengård went to Portugal hoping to get their first points in the Champions League group stage and dreaming of reaching the last 16.
But those dreams collapsed when Benfica took advantage of the fact that the Swedish champions came to Lisbon with a newly formed backline.
Because with the three defenders Emma Berglund, Athena Pearson Lundgren and Rebecca Knack on the injury list, Bianca Schmidt had a chance from the start with Guðrún Arnardóttir.
In the 23rd minute, Chloe LaCasse single-handedly stripped the Rosengard defense when she cut in from the left and feinted Bianca Schmidt into the stands before testing her shot. A shot was covered by Arnardottir, but the ball bounced into the Canadian’s path and managed to give the home team the lead relatively easily.
The goal shook Rosengard and gave Benfica confidence. Just minutes later, Jessica Wake made a goal-line save after Tejan Mika was rounded and in the 30th minute, Pauleta unleashed a dangerous shot.
– We have problems removing them. We have allowed them to register and we have to stop it. “We have to get tighter and get better at going from right to left,” team captain Mia Pearson tells DAZN during the break.
There were intense discussions among Rosengård’s players as they left the field in the first half and although the Swedes created some chances in the second half, there were no more goals in the match.
Now Rosengård can hope for revenge when the teams meet at Malmö IP on December 7.
Earlier in the evening, Barcelona beat Bayern Munich 3-0 at the Camp Nou, meaning last year’s Spanish finalists top the group with nine points. Bayern Munich has six points, Benfica has three points, and Rosengard is in last place with zero points.
