Benfica bring Champions League pedigree and a strong home record into this third qualifying round tie, having dispatched their previous opponent 5-0 in Lisbon. Hearts are yet to score in two pre-season outings, conceding seven times across those defeats, and they arrive with…
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Sign inBenfica welcome Heart of Midlothian to their Estádio da Luz home on Thursday, August 6, for the first leg of a UEFA Europa League third qualifying round tie. Kick-off is 8pm local time in Lisbon, where the Portuguese club will be aiming to put the contest beyond the Scottish visitors before the return at Tynecastle Park a week later.
Benfica entered the competition at this stage after eliminating St Gallen in the previous round. The Swiss side had won the first leg 2‑1, but the tie was emphatically overturned in Lisbon. Vangelis Pavlidis struck four times – two of them before Jozo Stanic was sent off for the visitors – and Clement Lenglet added a fifth in a 5‑0 rout. That seven‑goal aggregate win has installed Benfica as heavy favourites, and Pavlidis’s finishing will be the greatest threat Hearts face.
Hearts dropped into the Europa League after a 6‑0 aggregate defeat to Sturm Graz in the Champions League second qualifying round. A 4‑0 loss in Austria was followed by a 2‑0 reverse at Tynecastle, leaving Wouter Vrancken’s side searching for a first European goal of the summer. The tie against Benfica offers a chance to reset, but the Scottish club will need to be far more resilient defensively than they were against the Austrians.
The Greek international’s confidence will be sky‑high after his four‑goal display, and he will test a Hearts defence that shipped six times without reply in the previous round. The last time the clubs met, in the 1960/61 European Cup preliminary round, Hearts conceded three goals in Lisbon and lost the tie 5‑1 on aggregate. History suggests that keeping the scoreline tight in the first leg is essential if the return at Tynecastle is to remain meaningful.
The winners of this tie will enter Monday’s draw for the Europa League play‑off round, where a group‑stage place awaits. The second leg is scheduled for Thursday, August 13 at Tynecastle, kicking off at 7.45pm. Hearts have already confirmed ticket details, with general sale beginning on August 4. For Benfica, anything less than a commanding home victory would be considered a disappointment, while Hearts know a narrow defeat on the road would keep their hopes alive.
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14Benfica
Coach: Marco Silva
Heart Of Midlothian
Coach: Wouter Vrancken
