Benfica 2-1 Lyon

Benfica recorded a vital 2-1 win against Lyon in the UEFA Champions League at the Estadio da Luz tonight. Rafa Silva gave the Portuguese champions an early lead before picking up an injury and replaced by Pizzi. The Benfica captain capitalised on a howler from Anthony Lopes to score the winner in the 85th minute after Memphis Depay had equalised for the French side.

Here are Benfica’s player ratings. 

The third round of the Taça de Portugal is the stage at which top-flight clubs enter the competition. The rules were changed some years ago whereby the draw is seeded and all teams from the top division play their 3rd-round opponents away from home, which has led to a much higher prevalence of surprise results.

This year was no exception with no fewer than seven Primeira Liga teams knocked out of the competition by clubs from the lower leagues. 

Europa League matchday two roundup

It was a largely disappointing night for Portuguese clubs in the Europa League. In the afternoon games, despite creating chances a-plenty, Porto lost 2-0 at Feyenoord, while Braga let victory slip in the dying minutes of a 2-2 draw against Slovan Bratislava at the quarry. The late kick-offs saw Sporting grab a fortunate victory against LASK, but Vitória Guimarães had no such luck as they were defeated by Eintracht Frankfurt.

Elsewhere it was a good night for Wolves while the football-starved Diogo Dalot and Ronny Lopes got minutes under their belts. Tonight’s games will certainly affect the predictions of punters wagering on which Portuguese side will go furthest in the Europa League at bet365. PortuGOAL rounds up all the action.

Champions League matchday two roundup

Benfica’s awful recent record in the Champions League (12 defeats in their last 15 UCL matches) continued as a poor performance resulted in a 3-1 defeat in Russia at Zenit St. Petersburg.

There was better news for Portuguese participants elsewhere as João Félix, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rúben Semedo all scored, and Luís Castro led his Shakhtar Donetsk side to a crucial victory in Italy against Atalanta. PortuGOAL rounds up all the action from the Portuguese perspective from matchday two.