I enjoy football a lot, especially the English Premier League, and i am here to give you occasional match reports from my own angle. Do enjoy it

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Pre-Match Preview

This was the third Champions league Group A match with Manchester United sitting pretty at the top of the table after victories over Basel and CSKA Moscow.

The trio returns

Pre-match was filled with news of the return of three men to Lisbon where they once plied their trade with Benfica. They are

1. JOSE MOURINHO
   He started his career as a manager in Benfica in 2000/01 season, the club president was changed and he was sacked then but has gone on to have 16 great years in different clubs and countries with so much success.
2. VICTOR LINDELOF
   Joined united this past summer window, although he is yet to find his feet, he spent 5 years there having joined as a 17 year-old with several strong defensive performances making fans brand him the iceman.
3. NEMANJA MATIC
   He had a spell there sandwiched from January 2011 to January 2014 in between his two spells in Chelsea. Joined Manchester in this past summer window and has been solid with several Man of the Match performances. Matic had this to say in the pre-match interviews

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Injury update

Six key players were sidelined, they are Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcos Rojo, Eric Bailly, Marouane Felliani and Michael Carrick. These injuries were one of the excuses Mourinho gave for a dour performance at Anfield few days ago as he 'had no bench'.

Benfica form

Benfica came into the match having lost their two previous Group A Champions league games with a goal difference of minus 6. Their domestic form however has been good and currently sit third in Liga Nos, losing only once in their first 8 games.

Head to Head

United had won 6 out of 9 previous encounters and this includes the European Cup final win in 1968.

Pre-Match Press Conference

The United squad flew out to Portugal on Monday afternoon for the much anticipated clash with a press conference held on Tuesday. Here Mourinho took time to explain why Benfica is a top team despite loosing their first two champions league matches, stating that he has tried convincing his squad that they must respect the opponent because he feels they are much better than the teams they lost to already.

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Mourinho had to also dismiss rumours of his exit in his usual cryptic manner. Few days earlier he was been tipped to sign a new five year contract, now the press were saying he is going to PSG but he admires them and believes he won't end his managerial career at United, knowing full well that he has at least 15 more years ahead in his career. He described it as mission impossible considering how the modern game has evolved.

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A reporter then asked if Jose believes another manager would have done a better job with the current squad against their previous encounter with Liverpool. Jose replied

i have just one comment to your question, that is NONE.

That was really funny.
Another wanted to know if Jose will reveal his starting eleven as he had done at a time in the past. He declined however said that their guess will be near perfect considering how players are out injured.

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Line-Ups

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Match Report

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The match was aired last night at 19:45BST live on BT sport.
United took further control of their group with a win at Lisbon. There were no firework displays but a superb free-kick from Marcus Rashford on 64 minutes was enough in the hard-fought match. The 35-yard free kick came in with so much power, that although the 18-year old goalkeeper Mile Svilar caught it, he and the ball dropped back behind the goal-line and the goal was award few minutes later with the help of the goal line technology.

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Benfica started well but soon fizzled out after 15 minutes while Romelu Lukaku had a header hit the crossbar despite being offside. The hosts ended with 10 men after Lusiano was sent off for a second yellow card.

Champions league Group A standing

United are still in control at the top but FC BAsel is just behind after winning CSKA Moscow by 2-0.

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Post Match Reactions

Manager's Injury Update

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Manager's view

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Man of the Match

This was contested by Marcus Rashford, Nemaja Matic and Ander Herrera and voted for on Twitter by fans. And it's picked up once again by the midfield maestro.

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Hope you had a nice time going through this report, hope it wasn't too bias, cos I'm a united fan...lol

This is my 1st sports report I will appreciate your comments, advice and upvotes.

cheers