Benfica 5-1 Club Bruges (agg 7-1): Scott Parker uncertain about future after defeat

Scott Parker says he is “unsure” he will still be boss of Club Bruges after Tuesday’s clash with Benfica knocked the Belgians out of the Champions League.

Perhaps he could not have foreseen such a devastating defeat, as they conceded five goals in Portugal to a 7-1 aggregate win.

Parker becomes the first English manager to concede five goals in a Champions League match, and with Club Bruges having won just two games since taking over at the end of December, he accepts that his future is out of his control.

Asked if he would still be manager of Sunday’s league match against Standard Liege, he told BT Sport: “I’m not sure. I have no control over it.

“I understand why you are asking me this question and it has probably been directed to me for several weeks.

“I really can’t control it. I’m not able to figure it out and you’re probably asking the wrong person. I’m fully committed to trying to reverse that, and that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

Benfica, who won the first leg 2-0, opened the scoring in the first half with a clever finish from Rafa Silva.

Goncalo Ramos then showed some great footwork to make it 4-0 on aggregate before jabbing from close range.

Joao Mario’s penalty and David Neres’ finish completed the victory before Bjorn Meijer scored a stunning consolation goal.

This is the second season in a row that Benfica have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, although they never progressed further and were beaten by Liverpool at this stage last season.

“The result hits us hard,” said Club Bruges midfielder Hans Vanaken.

“The way it happened was also painful because we conceded goals too easily.

“I’m touched because we’ve had a great campaign. You don’t want to go out like this.”

Club Bruges rarely looked to turn the game around and Benfica even had the ball in the net after two minutes thanks to Joao Mario but was ruled offside.

Despite this early opportunity, the visitors did well to hold off for 38 minutes and were starting to look threatening as Silva scored, keeping his composure and controlling the ball from a cross before entering play.

From then on, Club Bruges capitulated as a draw looked beyond them and another fine finish, this time by Portugal striker Ramos, ended the match as a stand-up.

Mario’s punishment came on both sides of Ramos’ and Neres’ clinical finishes, but Meijer at least gave traveling fans something to cheer up with a superb finish for the first time in the top corner.

Since the inception of the Champions League, Benfica have lost all five quarter-finals they have played in, but this result and performance give them hope to take the next step.