Benfica manager Jorge Jesus looked like a man in shock, when the referee blew the final whistle just a minute or so after Branislav Ivanovic had handed Chelsea the Europa League title with a fine header in the third minute of stoppage time, unable to come to terms with the fact that his side had ended up being second best despite dominating the game from start to finish.
The Portuguese side were woefully unlucky not to come away with victory after showing their prowess in the attacking third with some wonderful attacking play.
However, their inability to take their chances proved to be costly in the end, with Chelsea, as they always do, showing the wherewithal and strength to overcome adversity and pull off a 2-1 victory.
"I'd like to tell you how proud I am to be here," Jesus said. "Today (Wednesday) Benfica showed the world they would be worthy winners, showed that they have real quality.
"Our fans deserved victory for the passion and loyalty they showed. For most of the 90 minutes Benfica were better -- better organised, technically and tactically superior to a very good Chelsea team.
"Chelsea are strong on the counterattack, though, and while in the first half we stopped them using this ploy, in the second half we had less success."
Fernando Torres opened the scoring for Chelsea against the run of play, before Oscar Cardozo equalized from the penalty box after Cesar Azpilicueta had been penalized for a handball inside the box.
Ivanovic, though, had the final say, scoring the winner from a corner in the third minute of stoppage time to give Chelsea a second straight European title.
"We looked the side most likely to make it 1-0, then 2-1 -- small details made the difference, especially in the penalty area," Jesus added.
"Again, for the second time in five days we conceded the decisive goal in injury time. Once again the players felt they didn't deserve to lose.
"At the end they felt they'd been gunned down. We still have two finals to play this season though: we have the Portuguese Cup final and the Liga title race (with Porto) isn't over yet.
"I was proud when Johan Cruyff hugged me at the end and told me that Benfica were a real team, playing football in a style he likes. I learned a lot from him so it means a lot."
