This game couldn't be more dramatic! Nurnberg reached a great 2-0 lead till the 88th minute then they saw Benfica's Cardozo scoring a late goal that allowed the Portuguese side to go through. Di María was still able to score the 2-2 but it was Cardozo's goal that really meant something to the game. The German side, who are doing a very poor domestic campaign, were very close to eliminate Benfica but the visitors had the luck on their feet. Anyway, we shall mention that both teams performed very badly. Benfica's right wing was terrible.

This time Camacho used only one striker upfront - Makukula instead of Cardozo - and that's something he has to reconsider for the future. Cardozo has got much better quality. You can say the Paraguayan is not a fine techique-based player, without much pace. However, he has got more awareness, more shooting and more skills to fill the striker position than Makukula, who is also a powerful player but hasn't got any technique or off-the-ball skills. This is an issue to find out who is the best one to play as single striker upfront - issue in which we think Cardozo is better - but you can imagine why there's such a polemic when Camacho puts both together, especially when the team have no established wingers to cross.

Take a look at Maxi Pereira's performance at Nurnberg. You can't say that surprises you, as most of our previews and reports mention the Uruguayan's lack of quality. Anyway, his poor football was hugely shown tonight. Not only he didn't know how to attack as he couldn't also stop the German's attacks on that side, fact that caused much more troubles to Luís Filipe. The latter was victim of an "awful" episode, when he let Saenko score the second goal - the whole Benfica defenders were terrible but it was Luís Filipe who got the "credits" for that massive mistake. The Benfica squad are so disorganised that there is no chance for Luís Filipe to have a rest and return when he was with more morale. He's under a massive pressure by the own supporters and it's quite difficult to play like this. Another thing you should have on account, once again, is the fact that the double-anchor is filled by midfielders Petit and Katsouranis. Both are good at defending but none of them has the ability to run with ball and make the difference on the opposite midfield. The problem for Camacho is that there are not many better options to use, as the squad is not built the better way. Left-back Leo is on a very poor form and we wonder if Sepsi couldn't make better than the Brazilian right now...

Regarding Nurnberg, let's be honest: they don't have a decent team. It's true that Benfica were far from convincing and have many weaknesses. However, Nurnberg lack too much on quality, especially on their defence, where Wolf is possibly the worst element of the team. His defending is awful but the whole team did a terrible job to clear the ball when Cardozo got the chance to score the decisive goal. Saenko, on the left, was perhaps the most dangerous player, creating panic on both Maxi Pereira and Luís Filipe. Jan Koller's and Charistea's off-the-ball movements, dragging the centre-backs marking, were also important.

Benfica will now face Getafe on the next UEFA Cup round but they really have to perform better than this if they need to beat the Spanish side. Anyway, once Benfica's coach is the Spaniard José Antonio Camacho, maybe he can have a pretty good knowledge of Michael Laudrup's side. Besides the Cameroonian Gilles Binya, also defensive midfielder Petit will miss the 1st leg against Getafe due to suspension.