Braga are out and will face Benfica if the Eagles beat St Gallen | OneFootball

Benfica already know the opponent they will face in the third Europa League qualifying round, if they manage to eliminate St. Gallen, where they will have an important boost. The draw was made this Tuesday, with Scottish side Hearts, where Portuguese player Cláudio Braga plays, emerging in the Eagles’ path, should Marco Silva’s team manage to turn the tie around.

Before thinking about the next European hurdle, Benfica will have to overturn the deficit brought back from Switzerland. It should be remembered that the Reds lost 2-1 to St. Gallen in the first leg of the second qualifying round, with the decider to be played next Thursday at the Estádio da Luz, starting at 8:00 pm.

Hearts secured a place in the Europa League qualifiers after being knocked out of the Champions League by Sturm Graz. After suffering a heavy 4-0 defeat in Austria, the Scottish runners-up lost again, this time 2-0 at home, with Simon Seidl scoring both goals for the Austrian side.

The Edinburgh team now await the outcome of the tie between Benfica and St. Gallen to learn their opponent in the competition’s third qualifying round. It is worth remembering that qualification for the Europa League league phase will still not be guaranteed at that stage.

After the third qualifying round, the winners will still have to come through a play-off, the final step before reaching the main phase of the UEFA-organized competition. As such, Benfica remain fully focused on the clash against St. Gallen, where the Reds are obliged to win.

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