Vangelis Pavlidis scored his sixth goal in this season's Champions League to give Benfica a 1-0 win away to 10-man Monaco in the first leg of their knockout phase play-off tie on Wednesday. Benfica, who are currently second in the Portuguese league behind Lisbon rivals Sporting,

Benfica took a step towards the Champions League last 16 with an away victory in Monaco thanks to a superbly taken second-half goal from in-form Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis. Bruno Lage and his team will be pleased with the win but may feel they could have put the tie to bed after Monaco’s former Braga midfielder Al-Musrati was sent off early in the second half and Benfica missed chances to amplify their lead.

Monaco face an uphill struggle next week in the second leg of their Champions League play-off after going down 1-0 at home to Benfica.