Benfica escape France with a draw to advance in Europa League

Benfica have advanced to the round of 16 in the Europa League after a scoreless draw in France against Toulouse. Benfica held off the determined French side in the second half to maintain a clean sheet in their second leg encounter, thanks in part to a star performance by stud keeper Anatoliy Trubin. The draw was enough to move on after a 2-1 home victory just a week ago.

Benfica missed a host of chances in the first half to open the scoring and extend their aggregate lead, but sat back in the second half and it almost proved costly. Overall, it was another poor performance by the club over a full 90 minutes and they will need to bring their game to a different level if they hope to continue to move forward in the competition.

Benfica will find out their opponents tomorrow, with the draw taking place in Nyon, Switzerland. Benfica's potential opponent will be one of West Ham, Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool, Atalanta, Brighton, Villarreal, Slavia Prague or Rangers. 

In other action involving Portuguese clubs, Sporting will join Benfica in the round of 16 after advancing 4-2 on aggregate over Young Boys. While Braga were eliminated after a second leg victory, in a game that went into additional extra time. Qarabag scored an injury time goal just a couple of minutes before the club's were set to head to penalties, to win the aggregate 6-5.