Scott Parker says he is “not sure” he will still be Club Bruges boss following Tuesday’s thrashing at Benfica that eliminated the Belgians from the Champions League.
The former Bournemouth and Fulham manager faced a difficult task to overturn a 2-0 loss from the first leg.
But he perhaps could not have anticipated such a heavy defeat as they conceded five goals in Portugal for a 7-1 defeat on aggregate.
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 his appointment at the end of December, he accepts his future is out of his hands.
Asked if he will still be manager for Sunday’s league game against Standard Liege, he told BT Sport: “I am not sure. I am not in control of that.
“I understand why you are asking me that question and it has probably been aimed at me for some weeks now.
“I can’t really control that. I am not in that position to understand it and you are asking probably the wrong person. What I am is fully committed in trying to turn this around and that is what I will try to do.”
Parker was sacked by Bournemouth in August following a 9-0 defeat by Liverpool, four games into the season.
Benfica, who won the first leg 2-0, opened the scoring in the first half with a smart finish from Rafa Silva.
Goncalo Ramos then showed great footwork to make it 4-0 on aggregate, before stabbing home from close range.
Joao Mario’s penalty and David Neres’ finish wrapped up the win before Bjorn Meijer scored a stunning consolation.
It is the second successive season Benfica have reached the Champions League quarter-finals, though they have never progressed further and were beaten by Liverpool at that stage last term.
“The result hits us hard,” said Club Bruges midfielder Hans Vanaken.
“The way in which it happened was painful too, because we shipped the goals too easily.
“I am emotional because we had a great campaign. You don’t want to go out like that.”
Club Bruges rarely looked like turning the tie around, with Benfica even having the ball in the net after two minutes through Joao Mario, but it was ruled out for offside.
Despite that early chance, the visitors did well to hold off their opponents for 38 minutes and were starting to look threatening when Silva scored, keeping his cool to control the ball from a cross before slotting in.
From then on Club Bruges capitulated as the tie looked beyond them and another fine finish, this time from Portugal forward Ramos, ended the game as a contest.
Mario’s penalty came either side of clinical finishes by Ramos and Neres, but Meijer did at least give the travelling fans something to cheer with an exquisite first-time finish into the top corner.
Since the Champions League was formed, Benfica have lost all five quarter-finals they have played in, but this result and performance will give them hope of taking the next step.
Source – BBC Sport
Share your thoughts