Maccabi Haifa will open the group stage in the Champions League with an away match next Tuesday against Benfica, and immediately after the final whistle this evening (Tuesday) at the Doha Stadium, where the Israeli champions beat Bnei Sakhnin 0:1, at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon, the meeting between Benfica and Pasos de Ferreira begins, at the end The opponent of the greens won 2:3 and maintained a perfect balance in all frames.
Benfica was supposed to meet Passos de Ferreira in the third round of the league earlier this month, but like Maccabi Haifa, the game was also postponed for them so that they could prepare properly for the pair of playoff meetings of the champions against Dynamo Kyiv. Benfica did not have an easy life and even fell behind to a goal by the Frenchman Andre Coffey in the 39th minute, but three minutes later Rafa Silva scored for David Ners. Even before the break, four minutes into added time to be precise, the turnaround was completed with a precise penalty by Joao Mario.
Benfica started the second half with a storm in order to secure the victory in the third round play-off game, and this time it was Joao Mario on the scoreboard for Gonzalo Ramos who made it 1:3 in the 56th minute. Kofi completed a brace in the 80th minute, but the visitors could not avoid a fourth loss of the season and will have to settle for praise for a respectable performance. Dor Jean, by the way, was not included in the Pasos de Ferreira squad.
Benfica has remained perfect this season in all formats, as is known also in the qualifiers for the champions with four wins from four meetings against the Danish Miotoland and the Ukrainian Dynamo Kyiv, and before the meeting against Maccabi Haifa, Roger Schmidt’s team will already host Vizla on Friday.