Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan feels that the Nerazzurri deserved their 2-0 win over Benfica in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal tie.

Speaking to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia, via FCInterNews, the 34-year-old hailed his team’s performance, but also cautioned that it is still only half the job done as this was just the first leg.

Inter showed that they can still have their say despite their woeful recent run in Serie A, by taking a big step towards the semifinals of the Champions League at the Estadio da Luz.

Yet another vital Champions League clean sheet and goals by Nicolo Barella and Romelu Lukaku gave the Nerazzurri an advantage to hold onto in the second leg of their Champions League tie against the Portuguese league leaders at the San Siro.

Mkhitaryan was glowing in his assessment of the team’s performance, calling it “One of our best matches of this season, we deserved to win.”

“We played very well, but it’s still just the first leg,” he added.

“Wednesday will be another match, we’ll do everything to reach the semifinals,” he continued.

“First off we have to think about Monza [in the league on Saturday], and then Benfica,” Mkhitaryan said, “it won’t be easy but we’re ready to play our game, win, and reach the net round.”

Asked whether he thinks that the team bounced back from their 1-1 draw away to Salernitana, Mkhitaryan said that “I don’t want to think about what happened in Salerno, I just want to think about tonight – the match in Salerno was what it was.”

And as far as whether he’s starting to think about the possibility of the Champions League final, the Armenian replied “No, just thinking about the next match.”

The former Roma and Arsenal man also spoke to SportMediaset after the match, via FCInterNews, and talked about what he thinks it took for the Nerazzurri to win at the Estadio da Luz.

Mkhitaryan hailed Inter’s “Head, heart, and intelligence, the way we played the match.”

“We have players of the highest quality and experience, and in matches like this that makes the difference,” he added.

“We didn’t come here to play, we fought to win, playing with determination in every area of the pitch,” the midfielder said.

“in the league we’ll have to see what happens in the league, but for now let’s focus on tonight and try to carry this forward to Monza and then the next leg,” Mkhitaryan concluded.