Wouter Vrancken said that Hearts did not play a good enough first half on the ball in Portugal in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie in the Europa League.
Possibly because of the early goal, which came after two minutes, his players “did not stick to the game plan”.
Told BBC Sport Scotland: “Our of possession it was too much following the guys and when you are man marking all the time then they take you out of position and that opens up everything.
“On the ball, we are just kicking balls away, and the ball is getting back as fast as we kick them.”
In the second half, especially the 20, 25 minutes, was much better. When you see that, Benfica also leave spaces and, when you do your job, then, you open the spaces for each other and you can play football.”
He praised a “nice goal” scored after 71 minutes by 25-year-old, French-born, midfielder, Tom Renaud. He added: “The players felt good, felt confident in this moment, but when you open up against a side like Benfica then in these moments they kill you.”
