Rui Costa nearly takes a nasty tumble at St. Gallen - Benfica (Video) | OneFootball

Rui Costa did not hide his dissatisfaction after Benfica’s defeat to St. Gallen (2-1) in the first leg of the second Europa League qualifying round. As soon as the referee blew for full-time, the Benfica president immediately left the stands, visibly upset with the outcome of the match.

According to what could be seen, Rui Costa hurriedly left his seat and, already on the stadium stairs, even slipped. Even so, the Eagles’ leader quickly got back up and continued on his way without making any statements.

Despite the setback in Switzerland, Benfica still have the tie open, but are now required to beat St. Gallen at the Estádio da Luz to secure their place in the Europa League. The second leg is scheduled for next Thursday, July 30, with kick-off set for 8:00 p.m.

If they fail to overturn the deficit, Marco Silva’s side will drop into the third qualifying round of the Conference League. In that scenario, Benfica will face the loser of the tie between Sheriff Tiraspol and Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

Heading into the second leg of that tie, all signs suggest the opponent could be the Moldovan side, after Sheriff Tiraspol were thrashed 5-0 in the first match. Even if they get past that obstacle, Benfica will still have to play a play-off to secure qualification for the league phase of UEFA’s third most important competition.

Watch the moment Rui Costa almost falls:

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