Hjulmand praises maturity of young stars as Leverkusen win away at Benfica

Bayer Leverkusen head coach Kasper Hjulmand lauded the maturity of his young side after they produced a battling performance to earn a 1-0 away win over Benfica in the Champions League.

Hjulmand had suffered his first domestic defeat since joining in September at the weekend, as Leverkusen were beaten 3-0 by Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.

And the German side were also winless in their previous five Champions League matches heading into their trip to Portugal, having recently been thrashed 7-2 by holders Paris Saint-Germain.

However, they were able to get back on track and record a seventh win in 12 matches under Hjulmand as substitute Patrik Schick headed in the only goal of the game after 65 minutes on Wednesday.

Hjulmand was quick to point out the inexperience of his team and how well he felt they had coped in a challenging environment, getting through long periods of the game when Benfica were well on top.

"It was a very tough game, we played our third away game in seven with the youngest team in Europe," the Dane told UEFA.com.

"We fought very, very well. Of course, we could play better, but at the end of the day we are very happy for the win. The boys did everything to win this.

"We had only four, five players with experience. We started tonight with three 19-year-old players, lots of youth on the pitch and also on the bench, very inexperienced.

"We showed character, talent and great team spirit. We have great potential, and this will surely be useful for the future."

Schick, who only netted his second Champions League goal after 29 games, emphasised the importance of the win, with Leverkusen now on five points after four games and inside the play-off positions.

"I'm very happy that we won, that was very important for us," the Czechia international said to DAZN.

"The win helped us a lot in terms of team spirit and we have to continue like this."

Jose Mourinho, who has now lost his last six Champions League matches stretching back to December 2019 when he was at Tottenham, was left frustrated as Benfica came away with nothing, despite dominating much of the match and having enough chances to win.

However, he refused to criticise his players, telling Sport TV: "I told the players: with the performance they had in this game, we would win nine out of ten games. But the one time we lose was this time."

The run of six Champions League defeats for Mourinho is as many losses as he had suffered in his previous 32 matches in the competition combined (W18 D8 L6).

This latest loss leaves Benfica 35th in the 36-team standings, with Ajax being the only other side to have zero points so far.

But there has been some misfortune, as Benfica are the only team in the competition to have hit the woodwork (five times) more often than they have scored (twice).