Breaking! Benfica know their Europa League rivals, odd duel too | OneFootball

Benfica already know who their opponents will be in the Europa League. After the draw held at UEFA headquarters, it was decided that Marco Silva’s side will host AZ Alkmaar, Celtic, Lech Poznan and OFI Crete. Away from the Luz, the Eagles will visit Milan, in a reunion with Ruben Amorim, Viktoria Plzen, Omonia and NEC.

In the 2nd qualifying round, they faced Switzerland’s St. Gallen and started with a setback that drew attention, losing 2-1 in the Swiss side’s home country. However, at the Luz, the Eagles ran out 5-0 winners and secured qualification.

In the following round, the Reds hosted Scotland’s Hearts, in the first leg, where they won comfortably 6-1, with a brilliant display from Vangelis Pavlidis, who scored a hat-trick. In Edinburgh, Marco Silva fielded an alternative team to give opportunities to the rest of the squad, and the match ended 1-1.

Finally, in the play-off round, Benfica faced Aarhus, from Denmark, and won both matches, both at the Luz and in the Nordic country, by 3-1, with Prestianni and Rafa Silva standing out, and qualified for the main phase of the Europa League.

The 2026/27 Europa League final will be played at Stadion Frankfurt, in Germany, on 26 May 2027. Originally opened in 1925, the stadium has undergone several upgrades and recently hosted five matches at UEFA EURO 2024, as well as games in the 2005 Confederations Cup and the 2006 World Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.