Tim Sherwood's prospects of remaining in the Tottenham Hotspur manager's job long-term were not helped as his side lost 3-1 at home to Benfica in their Europa League last 16, first leg on Thursday. Portuguese league leaders Benfica extended their unbeaten run to 24 matches and made it nine consecutive wins in all competitions with a victory that was given to them by a goal from Rodrigo and a Luisao brace, with Christian Eriksen pulling one back for the hosts.
Amid speculation that Spurs will move to bring in experienced Dutchman Louis van Gaal as coach in the summer, Sherwood saw his team suffer a defeat that leaves them in a very difficult position heading into next week's return leg in Lisbon. The visitors, who lost last season's final to Chelsea in Amsterdam, took the lead half an hour in when Ruben Amorim released Rodrigo with a superb pass in behind the defence, and the Brazilian-born Spanish striker curled a fine finish around goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Giant Brazilian defender Luisao then headed in a left-wing corner in the 58th minute, before Eriksen's free-kick from 25 yards raised spirits around White Hart Lane. Elsewhere, Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw by Italian rivals Fiorentina in Turin in a repeat of the 1990 UEFA Cup final. Juve won that tie and also beat La Viola 1-0 in Serie A last weekend, and they opened the scoring on Thursday when Arturo Vidal fired home inside three minutes. Antonio Conte's side are hoping to go all the way to a final that will be played in their own stadium but Fiorentina are still very much in the tie after Mario Gomez levelled the scores on the night and grabbed a precious away goal in the 79th minute.
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