Benfica already knows their opponents in the Europa League after the draw held at UEFA headquarters. As the visiting team, the eagles will play away against Milan, Viktoria Plzen, Omonia and NEC. However, the highlight goes to the reunion with Ruben Amorim, now at Milan, and the fact that the Portuguese club will host at home AZ Alkmaar, Celtic, Lech Poznan and OFI Crete.
To reach the main phase of the competition, Benfica had to go through three qualifying rounds. In the second qualifying round, the red and whites faced St. Gallen, from Switzerland, and started with a 2-1 defeat away from home. However, at the Estádio da Luz, Marco Silva's team applied an emphatic 5-0 and secured qualification.
In the next round, Benfica hosted Hearts, from Scotland, and won easily 6-1, in a match where Vangelis Pavlidis stood out by scoring a hat-trick. In the second leg game, in Edinburgh, Marco Silva chose to send an alternative team to give opportunities to the rest of the squad, resulting in a 1-1 draw.
In the play-off phase, Benfica faced one last opponent to secure their place in the Europa League group stage.
