Benfica draw not enough to advance in Europa League

Benfica fought tooth and nail but could just not get to the round of 16 in the Europa League with a draw on this disastrous night for Portuguese football. Benfica opened the scoring just nine minutes into the encounter bringing the Estadio da Luz fans to their feet when Pizzi would find the far right corner giving Benfica advantage based on away goals due to their 2-1 defeat to Shakhtar in the first leg. That advantage would last barely three minutes with a Ruben Dias own goal bringing the game level. The central defender would make amends scoring nine minutes before the half to give Benfica the 2-1 lead and having the game set to go into additional extra time if it remained that way. Rafa Silva would then take advantage of a Shakhtar back end error to give Benfica a 3-1 lead just two minutes into the second half and once again the club had the advantage to move into the round of 16 but again Benfica failed to hold this advantage for very long as just four minutes later Shakhtar would bring the game to within one and give the Ukrainian side advantage on away goals. Shakhtar would then tie the game up at 3-3 with a goal at the 71st minute mark which basically ended the hopes of the Lisbon club advancing. Benfica would be eliminated 5-4 on aggregate over two legs in what was a horrible Europa League campaign for Portuguese Football. Benfica would be joined by FC Porto, Sporting and Braga at the exit door as Portugal's clubs all crashed out of the tournament which have many questioning the state of skill and talent currently in the league.

Benfica squad for second leg encounter against Shakhtar

Benfica go into their second leg showdown against Ukraine side Shakhtar Donetsk at the Estadio da Luz coming off their first victory in four games and looking to avenge their 2-1 first leg loss last week. Benfica need a victory and a goal to have any chance of moving into the round of 16 and are hoping to take the momentum of their latest victory to heart. Benfica play Shakhtar today at 8pm WEST and they will dress 18 players from the list below.

Keepers- Vlachodimos, Mile Svilar

Defenders- Tomas Tavares, Alex Grimaldo, Ruben Dias, Ferro, Nuno Tavares

Midfielders- Chiquinho, Pizzi, Taarabt, Franco Cervi, Rafa Silva, Samaris, Florentino, Julian Weigl, David Tavares

Forwards- Carlos Vinicius, Seferovic, Jota, Dyego Sousa

Benfica Player Profile: Nuno Gomes

Nuno Gomes (Striker)

Years Active (1994-2014)

Benfica Career (1997-2000) (2002-2011)

Born: July 5, 1976 (43 years old)

Nuno Gomes

Nuno Gomes started his playing career with Benfica in 1997 after making the move from Boavista where he was a member of the clubs youth teams since 1997. Nuno Gomes spent three seasons at Benfica scoring over 60 goals in over 100 club appearances before moving to Italian side Fiorentina in 2000 for €17M. Gomes returned to Benfica in 2002 on a free transfer after Fiorentina were relegated in Italy.


Gomes return to Benfica did not go as well at the start as his first with the striker battling a series of injuries from 2002 to 2005 and appearing in less then 70 games. Gomes though was a member of the clubs league winning squad in 2004/05 their first league championship in over 10 years. Gomes would add an additional six trophies during his time with Benfica while scoring 166 goals in 399 games across all competitions.

Gomes International career was just as successful being named to the Euro 2000 starting eleven all star squad and scoring 29 goals during his time as a member of the senior side to sit fifth all time. Gomes called it a career in 2013 after future stops at Braga (2011-12) and Blackburn (2012-13) and returned to Benfica as a director of the clubs academy before parting ways in 2017.