Benfica set to open up the Portuguese League season

The Portuguese League has announced the opening week schedule for the 2022/23 season and Benfica will kick off the first game of the new campaign at the Estadio da Luz against Arouca on August 5th. Benfica will then open up the Week 2 schedule the following week on August 12th when they travel away to take on league newcomers Casa Pia.

Benfica's upcoming Champions League qualifying schedule is the reason that the club will play their first two games of the season on back to back Fridays, disappointing many of their North American fan base who may be stuck at work and unable to catch the action of the season start. Benfica are set to face the winners of Midtjylland or AEK Larnaca in the third qualifying round phase for a spot in this seasons Champions League group stage.

Deal between Benfica and Galatasaray closed for Seferovic

Benfica and Turkish side Galatasaray have agreed on a loan deal for 30 year old Swiss striker Haris Seferovic which should see Seferovic depart to Istanbul over the next couple of days. Galatasaray will be responsible for Seferovic's full salary this season and the deal will have an automatic buy option which would be triggered for €3.5M if Seferovic appears in 15 games during the 2022/23 season.

Seferovic joined Benfica during the summer of 2017 on a free transfer and has appeared in 187 games for the club across all competitions, scoring 74 goals while setting up an additional 24. Seferovic won the golden boot in Portugal during the 2018/19 season with 23 goals and was the runner up for the award during the 2020/21 season with 22 goals. Seferovic has won one League Championship and two Super Cups while a member of Benfica.

Benfica manager looking for one more striker

Newly appointed Benfica manager Roger Schmidt is looking to see the club add a prolific striker to the fold before the transfer window closes over the next few weeks. With the departure of Darwin Nunez and the likely departures of Haris Seferovic and Goncalo Ramos, this would leave Schmidt with the options of Roman Yaremchuk, Henrique Araujo, Roger Pinho and newly acquired Petar Musa in the fold.

The German manager would like to see the club invest in a striker in the mold of Darwin, who is fast and has a good ability to finish. Schmidt is also open to the idea of adding a couple of other players to the squad, preferably in the midfield and in net. Benfica have already added six new reinforcements this summer, having spent €46.8M in those acquisitions with only Mihailo Ristic signing on a free transfer.

Benfica is set to commence their quest for a spot in this upcoming seasons Champions League group stage in the next month and will learn their third qualifying round opponents this week.