Benfica will take a slender 2-1 lead to Turin after they beat Juventus in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie in Portugal this evening.
In an opening period of few real chances, the home side took the lead after just two minutes when Ezequiel Garay headed home
from a corner.
Juventus struggled to carve out anything of note, but Carlos Tevez did his best to try to force the issue with a couple of powerful runs at Benfica's defence.
Oscar Cardozo had a rare sight of goal midway through the half, but his left-footed effort was well blocked by the Juve defence before Gianluigi Buffon gathered.
Antonio Conte's side nearly restored parity after the restart but Paul Pogba's header was clawed away by Artur after Claudio Marchisio had done well to retrieve the ball and get a cross in for the Frenchman.
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The Eagles thought they had doubled their lead but Buffon stopped Luisao's powerful header, and with 15 minutes remaining, the visitors were back in through Tevez.
The Argentina striker brought the ball under control before escaping two challenges and nutmegging Artur in the Benfica goal to end a five-year drought in European football.
However, with just seven minutes of normal time remaining Rodrigo Lima ran on to a pass on the edge of the box and hammered a fierce effort high into the net for his 20th goal of the season.
Paul Gorst
