Feyenoord boss Priske revels in Lisbon heroics

Feyenoord’s players may not fully realise the enormity of their surprise Champions League victory at Benfica, says head coach Brian Priske.

Antoni Milambo scored twice, becoming the first Feyenoord player to net an away Champions League brace since 2000, while Ayase Ueda was also on target in a 3-1 victory for the Eredivisie side in Lisbon.

It was a second successive away win for Feyenoord in the competition’s new-look league phase, and they are up to 16th in the 36-team table.

“This is certainly a great victory. I don’t know if we realise how great it is until the heart rate drops a bit and we can enjoy it,” said Priske, who was appointed after Arne Slot left for Liverpool.

He struggled initially but has now seen them to four successive wins in all competitions.

“This [Benfica] is a very big club in Europe, with top quality players and a great stadium. This is really a great achievement,” said the Danish-born coach.

“The mentality of these boys is incredible. I am very proud of them, how we kept fighting after they pulled one goal back and were mentally strong enough to pull the match over the line with the 3-1 win.”

Antoni. Away. Again. #UCL pic.twitter.com/ZqUsBCUpe0

— Feyenoord Rotterdam (@Feyenoord) October 24, 2024

Hailing his players’ defensive work, Priske continued: “First of all, you have to work hard, suffer, take on some pain when they have the ball, sacrifice yourself for the team and defend really well.

“And then offensively we also needed to take moments to outnumber them in the midfield, see if we could outplay them and create some danger.

“Credit to the players. I think they showed all the elements that I talk about here. It’s a massive result, but also a performance that shows everyone in our dressing room that we were capable of a lot of things.”

Feyenoord’s next Champions League game is at home to Austria’s Salzburg, who have lost their opening three games, on November 6.