Match Previews

Coming from an unexpected and heavy 3-0 defeat away against Boavista. Lost the first place. Almeida out for long. Pedrinho and Todibo out. Grimaldo in the squad. Samaris ineligible.

An unimaginable result at the beginning, considering that Boavista had not yet won, while Benfica had won them all so far. Aguias were unrecognizable, slow and almost listless. Even Jesus changes in the second half have not had any effect.

Encarnados wasted the chance to take a 8-point advantage on their greatest rivals Porto. They now slipped in 2nd position, one point below Sporting.

Benfica will try to redeem themselves in Europa League where on Thursday they host Glasgow Rangers. Like Benfica, the Scots too have won the first two games, so this match could decide the leadership of Group D.

Defender Andre Almeida sustained the break of the knee cruciate ligaments...will miss for long.

Latest arrival Jean-Clair Todibo recovered from an Achilles tendon inflammation, but he is not fit enough to play.

Left-back Alex Grimaldo is just back training after an ankle injury and already is an option.

Midfielder Pedrinho sustained a foot fracture and is therefore ruled out. Andreas Samaris is ineligible in Europe.

In UEFA competitions Benfica never met Glasgow Rangers. As for other Scottish teams, they hosted 4 times Celtic Glasgow (3 in Champions League and one in the European Cup) winning all of them, and once Hearts of Midlothian in the European Cup, again winning.

Jorge Jesus: "The team had never been losing this year before and when they reached the break 2-0 down, they were emotionally charged. I tried, with the substitutions, to change the team, but they didn't change the team's game. Basically, there was a lack of defensive organization".