UEFA Youth League semi-final highlights, round-up: Benfica 1-3 Club Brugge, Real Madrid 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain (5-4 pens)

Club Brugge beat Benfica and Real Madrid pipped Paris Saint-Germain in an epic penalty shoot-out to reach Monday's UEFA Youth League final in Lausanne.

Benfica had scored an unprecedented number of goals in a UEFA Youth League campaign but Club Brugge had conceded few and after withstanding early pressure became the first Belgian side to reach the final. Former champions Madrid then equalised late against Paris Saint-Germain and also came from behind to win a penalty shoot-out in sudden death courtesy of three saves by Javier Navarro.

Friday's semis and Monday's final are being played at Stade de la Tuilière, Lausanne, which is hosting the finals due to renovation works at the regular Swiss venue, Colovray Stadium in Nyon.

Benfica 1-3 Club Brugge

Benfica, who already had a competition single-season record 38 goals before today's game, welcomed the prolific Gonçalo Moreira back from quarter-final suspension and went on the attack from the start. In the seventh minute Argus Vanden Driessche saved an effort from Federico Coletta and Daniel Banjaqui's follow-up was blocked.

However, Club Brugge (missing Naïm Amengai and Lucas Delorge through suspension) registered six clean sheets in their nine-game run to the finals and were keeping Benfica at bay. And the first Belgian semi-finalists for a decade opened scoring as Tobias Lund Jensen was fouled in the box by Miguel Figueiredo, Laurens Goemaere turned in the follow-up after his penalty was parried by Diogo Ferreira.

In first-half added time Gonçalo Oliveira headed a Coletta corner against the crossbar as Benfica resumed their attacking push, this time in search of an equaliser. Early in the second period Tian Koren broke through for Club Brugge and Diogo Ferreira did well to save; his opposite number Vanden Driessche produced a fine diving stop to keep out Jaden Umeh's curling effort.

The Club Brugge lead was doubled in the 57th minute, Andre Garcia running all the way from his own half to the Benfica box before coolly rolling a left-footed finish between the legs of Diogo Ferreira. And ten minutes later Yanis Musuayi made it three, volleying in from close range after a clever corner routine involving Lund Jensen and Koren.

Still Benfica pushed and an Umeh effort deflected wide. In added time, they did have a 39th goal of their run when Wout Verlinden tuned an added-time cross into his own net, and Benfica even came close to another, but it is Club Brugge who became the competition's 14th different finalist from 12 distinct nations in its 12-season history.

Key stat: Club Brugge are the first team to beat Benfica in their five semi-finals.

Jonas De Roeck, Club Brugge coach: "We were full of confidence that we could get a result today. I am very happy for the players and also very satisfied with the reaction they showed [after Benfica's early pressure]. Football is emotion and it was a very emotional match today. We did a good job."

Yanis Musuayi, Club Brugge goalscorer: "It was a difficult match. We were prepared for that. We gave everything and we won. Scoring and winning the game were my objectives."

Gianluca Okon, Club Brugge midfielder: "This is a massive moment for us, reaching the final as the first Belgian club. Hopefully we can win it."

Vítor Vinha, Benfica coach: "We must congratulate our players, who were brave and gave their all from the first to the last second. We put in a commendable performance, but obviously we’re not happy, we can’t be happy. We feel we should have done more, we could have had a different result, we feel the better team didn’t win the match, but sometimes football has a strange way of teaching us things we need to learn."

Gonçalo Moreira, Benfica midfielder: "Anyone who watched the game will have seen that we started well, taking control of the match from the off and dictating play. After the [first] goal, though, I think we struggled. We tried to fight back but failed to score from clear-cut chances. I think the problem with today’s game was the chances we missed. I think we could have been a bit better in the final third."

Jaden Umeh, Benfica forward: "We did everything right. It's football. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and you lose. It's just moments that are decisive." 

Real Madrid 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain (Madrid win 5-4 on penalties) 

Madrid, like Benfica equalling Barcelona's record of five semi-final appearances, began brighter and Alexis Ciria's strong effort was tipped over by Martin James. But Paris, who won their only previous semi-final in 2016 against Madrid, soon began to threaten.

Not long before the half-hour Elijah Ly ran on to a Rayan Abo El Nay ball from the right and, connecting with it first time on the edge of the box, brilliantly curled a shot in over Navarro. Three minutes later Ly was played through again but Navarro stuck out a foot to save, and the Madrid goalkeeper also did excellently to turn a ferocious Abo El Nay strike around the post.

Madrid looked almost certain to equalise early in the second half when Jacobo Ortega burst through but his shot looped off the leg of James and bounced off the crossbar. And as time wound on, it seemed there would be no way through for Madrid.

But with eight minutes left, just after James had done well to deny Ortega, Paris were unable to clear and substitute Liberto Navascues somehow found space in the box to beat the Paris keeper with a low shot inside the near post. A shoot-out loomed but deep in added time Abo El Ney received the ball in space in front of the Madrid goal, only for Navarro to block.

That meant penalties and Alexis Ciria hit the post with Madrid's first effort, and James dived to stop their third kick by Carlos Díez. Navarro immediately responded by saving from both Aymen Assab and Yanis Khafi, and in sudden death the Madrid keeper sealed victory, keeping out Emmanuel Mbemba's penalty at full stretch after Joan Martínez had made it 5-4.

Key stat: The 2019/20 winners Madrid, in their second final, will hope to become only the third multiple winner after Barcelona (three titles) and Chelsea (two).

Alvaro Lopez, Real Madrid coach: "They say that hard-fought victories are that bit sweeter. I don’t think we played well in the first half, but that’s Real Madrid for you. It’s about fighting until the very end. That’s our philosophy, our identity, and we did just that. The boys believed in themselves, and we managed to tie the game and take it to a penalty shoot-out where we won to reach the semi-final.

"The second half was crucial, it showed how Real Madrid are a different team. Javi [Navarro] had a great game; his performance was incredible, and he was phenomenal in the penalty shoot-out. I’ve already told the players that this is going to be a team effort. Today it was the turn of some players; let’s hope others step up on Monday to win our second Youth League."

Jacobo Ortega, Real Madrid forward: "Well, [penalties] are a lottery if you don't have Javi Navarro in goal. He is a superstar.

[On Liberto Navascues' goal]: "That was a key moment. We got the equaliser. I shot, but the ball stayed there in the area and Liber, who is a machine, shoots and puts it in. The truth is that I am very happy!"

Jean-François Vulliez, Paris coach: "It is always cruel to lose a game on penalties, but we are very proud of the team and their Youth League journey. We are really proud to have made it to the semi-finals. Of course we would have wanted to go to the final, but only one team can, and today that is Madrid. We will come back stronger.

"We are leaving Lausanne with more experience; we've had a strong Youth League campaign. We played a good game against an equally good team. We managed to push through their pressure after our goal, then they equalised, and in the end we lost on penalties. We lost, but the team won a great deal in experience."