Benfica cruise in Taca de Portugal win

Benfica had an easy time in their fourth round Taca de Portugal encounter against Vilafranquense, defeating the second division club 5-0 to advance to the round of 16. Benfica got a pair of goals from Swiss striker Seferovic and singles from Goncalo Ramos, Pizzi and Pedrinho in the game and join Portuguese League rivals, FC Porto and Sporting in moving forward. Benfica have one league game against Gil Vicente before taking on FC Porto in the battle for the Portuguese Super Cup, December 23.

Benfica potential opponents in Europa League round of 32

Benfica ended their Europa League group campaign on Thursday with a 2-2 draw against Standard Liege to finish second in their respective group behind Scottish side Rangers. Benfica will now have a more difficult path in the round of 32 as there next opponent will come from group winners and the four higher seed third place finishers from the Champions League. The draw for the round of 32 will take place on December 14.

The 15 clubs that Benfica could draw on Monday:

Man United, Tottenham, Arsenal, Leicester City, AC Milan, Napoli, Roma, Ajax, PSV, Bayern Leverkusen, Hoffenheim, Villarreal, Dinamo Zagreb, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk.

Benfica's search for center back takes them to Turkey

With the January transfer window set to open in less then four weeks, Benfica continue their search for a center back to add to the club as they look to strengthen the squad. Benfica have recently been in talks with Brazilian club Santos for defender Lucas Verissimo but have not presented terms to that liking of Santos board and reports now coming out of Turkey have Benfica linked to Trabzonspor center back Vitor Hugo who joined the Turkish side in October from Palmeiras for €3.2M, signing a four year contract. The 29 year old Hugo has appeared in seven games since joining Trabzonspor and is in his second stint in Europe after spending a spell with Fiorentina from 2017-2019. Benfica manager Jorge Jesus hopes to have a few reinforcements when January comes and Hugo is just the latest in what is becoming a long list of center backs linked to the club.