Opposition insight for Milan-Benfica: Form, injuries, predicted XI and more
There will be a Champions League flavour to AC Milan’s Europa League opener on Wednesday night as Benfica visit San Siro.
The game in round one might well be the showpiece tie of the entire league phase given the history of both clubs, who as mentioned have pedigree more recognised in the biggest European club competition.
Nevertheless, both Milan and Benfica will see this as an opportunity and they are among the pre-tournament favourites. It has been another intriguing summer in Lisbon, while Ruben Amorim and Goncalo Ramos both have a past there, setting this up to be a tasty one.
Opposition insight on Benfica
➤ Manager: Marco Silva ➤ Form (all comps): W-W-W-W (most recent) ➤ Top scorer (Primeira Liga): Pavlidis – 8 ➤ Most assists (Primeira Liga): Pavlidis, Prestianni, Schjelderup – 2 ➤ Injuries & suspensions: Bah.
After finishing third in the Primeira Liga last season despite not losing a game (23 wins, 11 draws), a summer of profound changes was forthcoming for Benfica ahead of 2026-27.
The biggest alteration was in the dug out, as Jose Mourinho departed Lisbon to head back to Real Madrid. Benfica moved swiftly to get Marco Silva from Fulham, and a summer with a lot of business then came.
Georgiy Sudakov was the most expensive signing from Shakhtar, with the attacking midfielder costing around €20m. Alessandro Circati headed there from Parma for €18m, while winger Jakub Kaminski joined them from FC Köln for €17m.
Joao Palhinha returned to his home country, signing permanently from Bayern Munich for €14m. Enzo Barrenechea signed from Aston Villa for €12m and Gabriel Indo arrived from Athletic in Brazil for €4m. Loans for Jhon Duran, Souffian El Karouani, Claudio Echeverri and Clement Lenglet were agreed too.
Despite all of that business, Benfica still turned a profit. Amar Dedic (€36m to Newcastle), Orkun Kokcu (€30m to Besiktas), Antonio Silva (€25m to Bournemouth) and Florentino Luis (€24m to Burnley) brought in a decent amount of cash. Nicolas Otamendi left on a free, and Richard Rios joined Al-Ittihad on an initial loan.
To reach the Europa League league phase, the Portuguese giants beat St. Gallen 6-2 on aggregate, then Hearts 7-2 and finally Aarhus Gymnastikforening 6-2, so they strolled into the first phase in truth.
In the league they actually drew 2-2 with Academico de Viseu in round one. Since then though they have won every game: 7-0 vs. Casa Pia, 2-1 vs. Estoril, 3-0 vs. Maritimo, 4-0 vs. Moreirense and 3-1 vs. Gil Vincente.
They are second with 21 goals scored in six games, and only four conceded. Their next opponents at the weekend? FC Porto, who have won six of six so far under Francesco Farioli, after winning the title last season.
Marco Silva has so far been preferring a 4-2-3-1 system with Greek sensation Vangelos Pavlidis leading the line, flanked by the impressive Rafa Silva and Andreas Schjelderup. The diminutive 20-year-old playmaker Gianluca Prestianni has been sensational too, with 10 goal contributions (eight goals) in 10 games this season.
Predicted Benfica XI (4-2-3-1): Soares; Aursnes, Araujo, Lenglet, Dahl; Palhinha, Barreiro; Silva, Prestianni, Schjelderup; Pavlidis.
Predicted bench:
