Benfica's Talisca basks in 'best feeling'

• Talisca's late goal enough for Benfica against Monaco
• Match winner describes 82nd-minute strike as "best feeling of my life"
• Jorge Jesus says Portuguese champions are "back in the fight" in Group C
• Monaco's Leonardo Jardim admits "it's all open now"
• Next games: Zenit v Benfica, Leverkusen v Monaco (26 November)

Talisca, Benfica forward
It was a great feeling for me to score and being nominated man of the match. I am only 20 and it is like a dream to play in the Champions League. Being able to score is indescribable; it was the best feeling in my life.

It was a very tough and even match but Benfica at home are very strong. We played a great game tonight as we showed we have the quality to reach the next stage of the competition. Now we have two difficult matches but we know our own strengths very well and we will go into those matches thinking about winning them.

Jorge Jesus, Benfica coach
Our goal was to win, it was an all-or-nothing match. We knew that after Zenit's result against Leverkusen a result here would put us in the mix again. We gave an excellent performance against a good side, like all the sides in this group. We played well and deserved this victory, as we had the best chances to score. Monaco always defend well; they are very strong defensively and they showed that again. We knew it was crucial to score first and we did.

'We're always expecting him to do something'©AFP/Getty Images

What's important for me is that the team won. Talisca scored; the team won it, rather than a single player, but it's a fact that he's very important for the goals he's scoring. We're always expecting him to do something. He's a young lad, he's learning.

We now have a light at the end of the tunnel. If we hadn't won today the dream would have been over, but now we can start to think about the match against Zenit, which will be extremely important. Leverkusen are practically qualified, so the fight will be between us, Monaco and Zenit.

Leonardo Jardim, Monaco coach
It was a very even match, just as it was two weeks ago. Both teams had chances and Benfica were more clinical. They scored and we didn't manage that. At this moment Leverkusen have an advantage given the points they have but it's a very tight group. All four teams will be fighting to qualify until the end. Benfica are back on track. As I said, if they didn't win they would be out; as they won, the fight will be until the finish.

Benfica's win didn't reflect what happened on pitch. The match was even, both sides had better moments and also bad ones. Benfica won, but you can't say that was fair. It's all open now. We could have opened a gap to third place but failed, although with the games ahead we can get the points needed to qualify.

The key moment was a set piece and that's very important in modern football. Benfica took advantage, but from what I saw there were stages where Benfica were better and others not so. We ended up losing because of a lack of efficiency in our better moments.

Lacina Traoré reacts on a frustrating night for Monaco©AFP/Getty Images

Jérémy Toulalan, Monaco midfielder
Had we won tonight it would have been a big step towards qualifying. It is still feasible for us, though of course it will be difficult and I think it will all come down to the last match. It is always a question of balance and it concerns the whole team. We had chances to score.

Over the two matches I think Benfica deserved to take the honours as they had a greater control over the games, though probably less so this evening. What is frustrating is that we conceded from a corner rather than from open play. That was a pity and their goal went in at a time when we were creating lots of chances and were in control.

Layvin Kurzawa, Monaco defender
We had chances this evening to open the scoring and to equalise and we didn't convert them. We do have trouble scoring goals at the moment and we'll try to work on it in training. I am sure we will come good on that score.

Lacina Traoré, Monaco forward
We definitely had more chances than them, but unfortunately we did not manage to take them. I don't think we were clinical enough in front of goal. They had a chance and they took it. A point would have been a good result for us. There are still matches to play in the group and we'll do our best to get results in them.