Benfica’s Jorge Jesus: we were by far the better side in the Europa League final

Benfica boss Jorge Jesus wondered how his side slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Chelsea in Europa League final, even though they were by far the best side in the opening half.

Jesus stressed the Portuguese team could have been the worthy winners of the European tournament. The result extended Benfica’s poor record of lost European finals to seven, and followed the similar last-gasp title-losing defeat at the hands of Porto.

Branislav Ivanovic scored the match-winning goal in the dying stages of the game, and it was “a difficult time for his team”, according to Jesus. He said: “My players did not deserve to lose this game and, emotionally, it feels like they have been gunned down. It is not easy to take but we have to recover.”

“We showed we would have been worthy winners,” Jesus added. “For most of the 93 minutes we were better than Chelsea. Small details could have given us the victory but we couldn’t manage to do it,” he added.

Despite the disappointing defeat Jesus has been offered a contract extension by the club. Manager admitted the defeat was difficult to accept and he is still considering his options. He said: “I have a very close relationship with the president. I have been talking to him over the last few weeks about renewing my contract. We have agreed most of the details but football changes every day. This defeat will lead me to have some time to think about these issues.”