LISBON, Portugal — Inter Milan ended its streak of poor results with a 2-0 win at Benfica in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Nicolo Barella and Romelu Lukaku scored second-half goals at the Stadium of Light to give Inter its first victory in more than a month and move the Italian team into good position to reach the semifinals of the European competition for the first time in more than a decade.
The second leg will be next week in Milan. Manchester City defeated Bayern Munich 3-0 at home in the first leg of the other quarterfinal on Tuesday.
It was Benfica’s first Champions League loss in 13 matches this season. It started the competition in the third qualifying round and was one of the surprises of the competition so far after going on an unbeaten run to win a difficult group that included Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.
Benfica was coming off a loss to rival Porto in the Portuguese league but had won 13 of its last 15 matches in all competitions since then.
Inter was winless in six matches in all competitions, with its last victory against Lecce in the Italian league in March. It is trying to reach the last four for the first time since it won the title in 2010. It is playing in the last eight for the first time in 12 years.
Trying to win five consecutive Champions League games for the first time since 1990, the hosts controlled the pace but it was Inter that struck with a header by Barella off a long cross by Alessandro Bastoni into the area in the 51st minute.
Substitute Lukaku added to Inter's lead by converting an 82nd-minute penalty kick that was determined by video review for a handball by former Inter player João Mário inside the area.
Benfica tried to press forward but struggled to create many significant scoring opportunities. Forward Gonçalo Ramos nearly found the net in stoppage time but he was denied by a great save by Inter goalkeeper André Onana.
The Portuguese team entered the match having scored 23 goals, second only to Napoli, while no quarterfinalist had scored fewer than the 11 netted by Inter.
Benfica was winless in the other three meetings between the clubs in European competitions, with two losses and a draw.
The European champion in 1961 and 1962, Benfica is hoping to make it past the quarterfinals for the first time since losing the final to AC Milan in 1990. It was eliminated by eventual runner-up Liverpool in last year’s quarterfinals.
Benfica coach Roger Schmidt had to make changes to the defense as right back Alexander Bah was injured and Nicolás Otamendi was suspended.
The winner of the series between Inter and Benfica will face AC Milan or Napoli in the semifinals.
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