Benfica win over Spartak in first leg

Benfica opened their Champions League group stage quest with a victory in Moscow over Spartak 2-0 earlier today. Benfica opened the scoring in the second half when Rafa Silva scored in the 51st minute on a neat give and go with midfielder Joao Mario. Benfica then doubled their lead when Lucas Verissimo feed a pass through to right back Gilberto in the 74th minute.

Benfica will kick off their league season on the weekend against Moreirense before hosting Spartak in the second leg on Tuesday August 10th. If Benfica hang onto their advantage they will move onto the final playoff were they will take on the winner of PSV and Midtjylland were PSV have the advantage after posting a 3-0 victory on Tuesday.

Benfica find out path to Champions League group stage

Benfica have found out their path today to the Champions League group stage and all the riches that it entails, it commences this week with a game in Moscow against Spartak. Benfica will play the two leg series in the Champions League 3rd qualifying round this Wednesday with the return leg back in Lisbon on Tuesday August 10th.

If Benfica advance past Spartak then they will face off against the winners of PSV and Midtjylland in the final playoff to land a spot in the coveted Champions League group stage. The final playoff will have the first leg take place on August 17 or 18 at home with the second leg away on August 24 or 25.

Benfica to land Yaremchuk from Gent

Ukrainian striker Roman Yaremchuk arrived in Lisbon late last night with Benfica director Rui Pedro Braz to finalize his move to Benfica after weeks of speculation. Benfica are said to have agreed to pay Belgian club Gent €15M for the 25 year old's rights and will sign Yaremchuk to a contract for five seasons. The signing should see Benfica cash in on current strikers Haris Seferovic and Carlos Vinicius as they look to whittle down the congestion in the forward position. Yaremchuk has spent the past four seasons with Gent were he has appeared in 152 games across all competitions, scoring 61 goals while setting up an additional 18.