Adi Hutter knows Frankfurt have a lot to do to get past Benfica

Eintracht Frankfurt boss Adi Hutter insists his side need the perfect game to beat Benfica and reach the Europa League semi-finals.

Highly-rated forward Joao Felix scored a hat-trick to inspire Benfica to a 4-2 win over 10-man Frankfurt in their quarter-final first leg last week.

Frankfurt, fourth in the Bundesliga, host the Portuguese leaders on Thursday night and Hutter knows they have it all to do at the Commerzbank-Arena.

“We need a perfect game,” he told a press conference. “We have to score goals, be very controlled when getting forward and also be patient.

“Ideally we won’t give them any chances but will keep attacking well ourselves and make the right decisions at the right times. We need to be very careful when we lose possession because Benfica are incredibly quick and agile.

“We’ve shown in our previous games that we can perform with quality at home. With our fans behind us, we’ll do everything we can to reach the next round.

“I want us to enjoy it, play with passion and show our quality. We need positive emotions in the stadium tomorrow. I’m sure our fans will carry us. They’ve always done so up until now and I hope it’s the case again.”

Frankfurt include former Swansea midfielder Jonathan De Guzman and ex-Manchester City player Gelson Fernandes in their ranks.

Benfica were Portuguese Liga runners-up last season after a club-record four successive titles.

They came third in Group E in the Champions League to drop into the Europa League and are in the quarter-finals for a record fifth time.

Benfica striker Haris Seferovic played for Frankfurt for three seasons, scoring 16 Bundesliga goals, before moving to Lisbon in 2017. He has scored 19 times in the league for Benfica this season.