Study shows Benfica likely to finish in the Europa League top eight | OneFootball

Benfica head into the 2026/27 Europa League as one of the contenders to win the trophy. According to a study carried out by Football Rankings, the Eagles, who make their debut against Milan, have a 77% chance of finishing the league phase among the top eight.

The projection suggests that Benfica will end the first phase with 17.26 points, enough to secure third place in the standings. Ahead of the Eagles are Bayer Leverkusen, tipped as the likely winners of the league phase, and Bournemouth, who are expected to finish second.

The projected top eight is completed by Juventus, Crystal Palace, Milan, Marseille and Sunderland. The European schedule immediately hands Benfica a hugely demanding challenge. The Eagles begin their campaign on 16 September at 8:00pm at San Siro against Milan.

The match takes on even greater importance due to its proximity to the clash with Porto. The trip to Milan comes just a few days before the visit to the Estádio do Dragão, which will take place on Saturday the 19th, in the seventh round of the Liga Betclic.

Taking into account the European schedule of Benfica and Porto, it is expected that the clash will be played on Sunday, further increasing the demands of a particularly intense week for Marco Silva's team. The Eagles will therefore have a fiery start to their European campaign, with the aim of confirming the projections on the pitch.

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