Benfica have moved into pot 2 of the Champions League group stage draw at the expense of country rivals FC Porto. Porto's elimination at the hands of Krasnodar earlier this week have guaranteed that Benfica will be placed in pot 2 along with Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Tottenham, Napoli, Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk with either Ajax or Lyon earning the final ball in the pot. Benfica's chances of moving on to the Round of 16 have also increased as pot 3 would have seen the club face one of the clubs mentioned along with some of Europe's power house clubs.
The Champions League group stage games will commence in September.
Benfica keeper Mile Svilar who has been rumoured all summer with a loan move back to his homeland of Belgium, appeared in action with Benfica's B side during the opening weekend of the Portuguese second division. Svilar was the starter in the B sides 2-1 victory over Estoril to start off their campaign. It is unclear where Svilar will end up this season but a spot on the main squad looks to be highly unlikely barring an injury.
Benfica have announced the signing of 20 year old midfielder/forward Nuno Santos to a contract extension until 2024 with an €88M buy out clause. Santos who is the captain of Benfica's B squad in the second division, joined the club during the 2013/14 season from Boavista and trained with the main squad over the preseason. Santos scored 13 times last season in 41 games across all competitions and is one of those Benfica youngsters who is currently on the cusp of joining the main squad during the season.
