Sidny Lopes Cabral in Benfica’s way in the Europa League? It could happen | OneFootball

Benfica have secured a place in the third qualifying round of the Europa League and already know the full list of possible opponents in the play-off, should they get past Hearts. Among the 20 candidates is Trabzonspor, the club where Sidny Lopes Cabral plays.

Besides the Turkish side and Sint-Truiden, OFI Crete and Lillestrom, who go directly into the Europa League play-off, Benfica could also face teams coming from other European qualifying ties. From the third qualifying round clashes in the Champions League (Hapoel Beer Sheva/Red Star, Levski Sofia/Kairat, Ararat-Armenia/Celje, Sabah/AGF Aarhus, Kauno Zalgiris/Dinamo Zagreb and Mjallby/Slovan Bratislava), the losers drop into the Europa League play-off. Meanwhile, from the third qualifying round matches in the Europa League (Víkingur Reykjavík/Thun and Larne/Iberia 1999), the winners advance to that same stage and could meet the Eagles.

The team managed by Marco Silva will once again be seeded in the draw, thanks to their European coefficient, and are in fact the highest-ranked club among all the teams involved at this stage of the competition. That status could influence the pairing, although it does not rule out the possibility of a demanding tie.

The play-off draw takes place next Monday, 3 August, even before the tie against Hearts has been decided. That way, the Reds will know in advance the path they will have to take if they eliminate the Scots and continue their push for a place in the Europa League league phase.

. Among all the possible scenarios, a potential clash with Trabzonspor, where Sidny Cabral plays, promises to be one of the most high-profile for Benfica fans.

Check out all the opponents:

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