Benfica’s season starts badly with defeat to St Gallen | OneFootball

Benfica suffered defeat in Switzerland, losing 2-1 to St. Gallen in the first leg of the Europa League second qualifying round. The side coached by returns to Lisbon with the tie still open, but needing to win in the second leg.

The home team started more aggressively and created several dangerous situations from the opening minutes, taking advantage of the Eagles’ difficulties in taking control of the match. After a few warnings, Aliou Baldé, in the 37th minute, produced an individual move and curled a shot past Trubin to make it 1-0.

The Reds managed to respond before half-time, at a moment when their opponents looked more comfortable in the game. In the 44th minute, Pavlidis held up the ball and set up Rafa Silva, who found himself through on goal and finished with class to level the score, sending the match into the break tied at 1-1.

In the second half, Benfica improved and moved closer to the Swiss goal, but came up against an inspired Ati Zigi, who denied attempts from Sudakov and Manu Silva. The decisive blow came in the 80th minute, when Tom Gaal found himself completely unmarked at the far post to meet a free-kick taken by Daschner and make it 2-1.

Until the final whistle, the team in red still tried to find an equaliser, but without success. The Eagles are therefore forced to win at the Luz to remain in the fight for a place in the league phase of the European competition. The clash will be played next Thursday, 30 July, at 8:00 pm. The winner of this tie will face the loser of the tie between Sturm Graz (Austria) and Hearts (Scotland).

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