Roger Schmidt lauded Benfica's self-belief after his side clinched top spot in their Champions League group in thrilling fashion.
Benfica had already qualified from Group H ahead of Wednesday's trip to Maccabi Haifa, though having drawn both of their games with Paris Saint-Germain, they needed a huge improvement to their goal difference to beat Christophe Galtier's side, and did what was required by claiming a 6-1 victory.
At 5-1 up, with PSG beating Juve 2-1, Benfica were set to finish second and would be more likely to be handed a tie against one of Europe's heavyweights.
However, Joao Mario scored in stoppage time to make it 6-1, and Schmidt believes it is exactly what his squad deserves.
"I congratulated the players, they played a fantastic game, they played at a great level," Schmidt told reporters.
"We actually did not manage to beat PSG in terms of points, but in the end we were ahead on away goals," he said.
"The players deserved it, [we played] our campaign in the best way. We wanted to finish first, we believed in ourselves. We looked at the points, but also at the goals. It is a great achievement to achieve this. The players deserve it."
Five second-half goals proved to be the difference in Israel and Schmidt highlighted momentum as the key, with Benfica scoring six times in a UEFA competition for the first time since September 1991.
"The objective was to win. We respected the opponent, it was not easy to face Maccabi, then we had our momentum with the fourth, the fifth goal," he added.
"They knew what they could do, then we gave our all for the sixth goal. It's a moment and an opportunity to achieve something important.
"They believed, they knew about the difference. It was the moment, it was our form, there was momentum from the team."
Benfica have gone through a Champions League group stage unbeaten for only the third time ever (W4 D2), also doing so in 1994-95 and 2011-12, topping the group in each of those seasons.
While they will avoid the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Chelsea, Benfica could face any of Liverpool, Club Brugge, Inter, Eintracht Frankfurt, Milan, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund in the last 16.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Pirlo sacked as Sampdoria head coach after dismal Serie B start
Andrea Pirlo has been sacked as Sampdoria's head coach after just over a season at the helm.
Pirlo, who managed Juventus for the 2020-21 campaign, has been relieved of his duties after an underwhelming start to their Serie B season.
After finishing seventh in Italy's second tier last term, the 45-year-old was given the green light to try and return to Serie A at the second time of asking.
However, an opening day draw with Frosinone was followed up with back-to-back defeats to Reggiana and Salernitana, leaving them second-bottom in the division.
During his time in charge, Pirlo won 18 of his 45 matches in charge (D10 L17), averaging 1.42 points per game, a total only bettered by his time with Juventus (2.15).
Sampdoria return to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris this weekend in search of their first three points of the season, welcoming Bari to Genoa on Saturday.
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