Lars Bender has admitted that Bayer Leverkusen played with ambition in their defeat of Benfica after making a poor start to their Champions League campaign initially.

After losing their opening match to Monaco, Bayer got back on track by beating the Portuguese giants 3-1 and for Bender, who was denied by the woodwork during the game, the nature of the response from Leverkusen was important.

He was quoted by UEFA.com as saying: "We were very ambitious, because our start in this Champions League was a little bit unsuccessful. We showed a very good reaction and a fantastic match.

"This win was extremely important, because we were standing with our backs to the wall. In groups like this you have to win your home matches."

Leverkusen are now within a point of Group C pacesetters Zenit St Petersburg and Monaco.