Also read
The English club wants to sign Ivanovic from Benfica
Benfica, still facing many uncertainties, will play their first official test of the season this Thursday when they visit Swiss club St. Gallen in a Europa League second-round qualifying match.
Two days after Benfica president Rui Costa suggested the team would still be coming and going for the rest of the summer market, Benfica take the stage probably still a long way from what their reality will be for the new season.
A disappointing third place finish in the last edition of the I League, considered a further sporting failure, left the Eagles out of the Champions League 17 years later, and an aggravating factor, given Torrense’s Portuguese Cup victory, was the need to compete in the Europa League qualifiers.
To reach the league stage of the competition, in which they were last in the 2020/21 season and then dropped out of the preliminary rounds of the Champions League, Benfica will have to go through the second and third qualifying rounds, as well as the play-offs of the second UEFA club competition.
With Marco Silva as the new coach, replacing Jose Mourinho, who has returned to Real Madrid, the Reds begin their European journey today against St Gallen, where they are forbidden to fail.
The manager will still not have the arguments he would like, but time is not in favor of the Lisbon team, who need to start showing their services in St. Gallen in the draw, which returns in a week, on July 30th.
The match against the Swiss second place, which starts at 19:00, will be officiated by Italian Luca Pairetto.
Benfica’s likely eleven players: Trubin; Ba, Antonio Silva, Langlais and Dahl; Manu Silva and Barrenechea; Rafa, Sudakov and Kaminski; Pavlidis.