Andre Almeida set to return after long layoff

Andre Almeida makes his long awaited return to the Benfica lineup after spending 10 months on the sideline recovering from a rupture to both his cruciate ligament and internal lateral ligament, which he suffered in Week 4 of the 2020/21 season against Rio Ave. Almeida who has appeared in 282 games for Benfica across all competitions has been included in Jorge Jesus' roster list for today's Week 2 game at home against Arouca but will need to compete with current right backs Diogo Goncalves and Gilberto for playing time going forward. It has been a long and difficult road for the 30 year but it is good to see him back healthy.

Benfica landing Barcelona's Umtiti not happening

Europe sports dailies have had a field day the last 24 hours reporting on a Benfica move for out of favour Barcelona center back Samuel Umtiti. Benfica are reported to have offered the financially strapped Catalan side €10M to land Umtiti on a permanent move to Lisbon as the club looks to add depth to their center back core. An injury to starting center back Jan Vertonghen suffered during the clubs Champions League qualifier against Spartak Moscow earlier this week got the rumours rolling on the clubs move to land an experienced center back.

Benfica manager Jorge Jesus has used a 3-5-2 formation in all games to date this season and the Vertonghen injury has seen the club turn to an inexperienced fourth option in 20 year old defender Morato. As much as Benfica fans would like to see the Barca defender apply his trade at the Estadio da Luz this season, it is an unrealistic acquisition due to the fact that the 27 year old defender currently earns roughly €12M per season and has a contract with Barcelona until the summer of 2023.

Although the French international has already been informed that he will not see much playing time if he remains with Barcelona, a move away would more then likely not see the defender join Benfica due to the fact that he would need a drastic pay decrease to fit into Benfica's current budget. Benfica's top earner this season Joao Mario, earns slightly under €4M per season so we can all see why this move is not going to work. Benfica does need an experienced fourth option center back but Umtiti will not be it, so the search will continue.

Benfica win to move into Champions League playoff

Benfica have moved one step closer to the Champions League group stage after their convincing 2-0 victory of Spartak Moscow in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier and have advanced 4-0 on aggregate. Benfica will now face Dutch side PSV for a spot in the Champions League and a windfall of millions. This game saw the return of fans to the stands as the club hosted 15,000+.

Benfica scored a pair of second half goals from deflections with the first at the 58 minute mark by newcomer Joao Mario and the second which was awarded as an own goal in injury time from another new comer Roman Yaremchuk, who's shot deflected off two Spartak defenders into the net. Benfica and PSV will play their two leg playoff on August 17 and 24, with Benfica hosting the first leg.