Exclusive Glorious 1904 - Benfica set sights on Champions League goals | OneFootball

Benfica’s objective in the Champions League is to qualify for the round of 16. Our newspaper reveals, in this Glorioso 1904 Exclusive, that the club’s management has already set internal targets regarding participation in the prestigious competition, and the Eagles’ intention is to advance beyond the league phase. The Club of Luz has already announced the squad list for the competition.

Reaching the league phase of the Champions League was not an easy journey for Benfica. After securing second place in the Liga Portugal Betclic in 2024/25, the Eagles had to overcome Nice in the third qualifying round, and Fenerbahçe in the play-off to access the prestigious competition.

However, qualifying for the main draw of the competition placed Benfica in pot 2. In the draw, the Reds were matched with Qarabag, Chelsea, Newcastle, Bayer Leverkusen, Ajax, Napoli, Juventus, and Real Madrid, teams they will face once each in the league phase of the Champions League.

Thus, the objective set by Benfica’s management is, at a minimum, to match what was achieved last season, that is: qualification for the round of 16. The Eagles are aware that it will not be an easy task, and do not ignore this factor, but believe that the squad assembled during the summer transfer window allows Bruno Lage to have clear intentions of advancing to the next stage of the competition.

Achieving this objective would guarantee a significant financial boost, as well as continue Benfica’s strong performance in the Champions League. To get there, and considering the difficulty of the matches they will play in the league phase, Rui Costa and the rest of Benfica’s management are aware that a play-off is a possible scenario, but remain optimistic about their chances of overcoming this challenge.

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