Benfica will join Sporting and FC Porto in the Champions League group stage this season after holding off a persistent PSV to a scoreless draw in their second leg encounter. Benfica went down to ten men at the 32nd minute mark of the game after Lucas Verissimo received his second yellow card in what was a bit of a questionable decision but it turned the game on it's head with Benfica providing little to no attack the rest of the way, but the club put on a superb defensive clinic with a little luck on the side.
Benfica will now receive around €37M from UEFA for qualifying for the group stage and are guaranteed six games in the Champions League to add more to that total. UEFA will pay out €3.28M for every group stage win and €1.09M for each draw in the competition. The qualification will also keep the club away from selling important pieces, unlike last season when their failure to make the group stage saw defender Ruben Dias depart before the summer transfer window closed.
Benfica will be placed in pot 3 for Thursday's group stage draw along with FC Porto, Ajax, RB Leipzig, Atalanta, Zenit and two of Shakhtar Donetsk, RB Salzburg, Besiktas or Dynamo Kiev depending on the results of tomorrow's final playoff games. A group of death featuring previous champions is very likely this season with the potential of a Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and AC Milan joining Benfica when the draw takes hold.
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