Panoramic view of the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon

Sports 28 July 2026

Benfica play at the Luz on Thursday and have to overturn St. Gallen's 2-1 or exit the Europa League in July

The second leg of the second qualifying round is on 30 July at 20:00 at the Estádio da Luz. After losing 2-1 in Switzerland, Benfica need a two-goal win, or a one-goal win to force extra time.

Thursday, 30 July, 20:00, Estádio da Luz. Benfica walk out with a simple and uncomfortable piece of arithmetic: they have to claw back a goal against a Swiss side that has already shown it can hurt them.

In the first leg, on 23 July, St. Gallen won 2-1 at home. Balde scored on 37 minutes, Rafa replied on 44 and Gaal made it two on 80 — the worst possible moment to concede, with the Portuguese side already managing the game backwards. It wasn’t a freak result. It was a Benfica team that arrived as favourites and left with the tie flipped.

What do Benfica need to go through?

A two-goal win settles it. A one-goal win levels the tie and forces extra time, since UEFA scrapped the away-goals rule. Any draw or defeat sends Benfica out before August even begins, in a summer where Marco Silva’s squad is still being assembled — the first official signing landed in late June and the team has been feeling its way through friendlies, including a 2-0 win over Villarreal in the Algarve.

Why does this round matter so much?

Because it’s the door to the third qualifying round and, at the top of that staircase, to the league phase. Going out here isn’t just a July fright: it’s revenue, ranking and coefficient gone before the Primeira Liga has even started, and the league kicks off on the weekend of 9 August with Benfica hosting Académico de Viseu.

Kick-off time and the referee appointment are confirmed on the UEFA site, which is where these things stop being speculation.

A full Luz on a July night with a tie to overturn usually makes for a good show. Shame this wasn’t the script.

It’s worth revisiting how the first leg went in Switzerland before assuming this fixes itself.

By Vasco Almada

Image: Massimo Catarinella / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Sports 28 July 2026

Pote has two Saudi clubs bidding for him, and Sporting is the one cashing in on the fight

Al Ittihad have entered the race for Pedro Gonçalves and are prepared to reach 30 million euros with bonuses, jumping ahead of Bruno Lage's Al Diriyah. Sporting wanted 30 million and is watching the price climb by itself.

Two weeks ago Pedro Gonçalves leaving Lisbon looked like a done deal. Now there are two Saudi clubs pulling the rope in opposite directions, and the one profiting is Sporting. Al Diriyah, coached by Bruno Lage, had moved first and reportedly reached personal terms with the player — three years, an annual salary somewhere around ten million euros, the whole thing steered by Jorge Mendes. What was missing was the hard part: convincing Sporting, who wanted…

Sports 28 July 2026

Luca Van Assche won the Estoril Open and it is the first title of his career

Luca Van Assche beat Alexander Blockx 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the 2026 Estoril Open final for his maiden ATP title, while Droguet and Jacquet took the doubles.

A final between two players nobody circled at the start of the week usually produces good tennis. This one did. Luca Van Assche beat Alexander Blockx 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, in a match that only resolved itself late in the third set. It is the Frenchman's first ATP title, and first titles tend to come with that particular face of someone who has not caught up with the news yet. That is roughly what the court showed. The match followed the classic shape of a tight…

Sports 26 July 2026

The Estoril Open final is Van Assche against Blockx, and nobody had this on their card

The 2026 Estoril Open final is played on Sunday at Estádio Millennium between France's Luca Van Assche and Belgium's Alexander Blockx — an all-unseeded final that guarantees a first-time champion.

The Estoril Open is getting a brand-new champion, and nobody saw it coming. Sunday's final at Estádio Millennium pits France's Luca Van Assche against Belgium's Alexander Blockx — two players who walked into the draw unseeded and spent the week removing the favourites one by one. Van Assche, 21, and Blockx, who reaches his first ATP tour final. It is a young man's final on Portuguese clay, and their first meeting since February, when the Frenchman won…

Sports 25 July 2026

Portugal's under-21s have six wins and have not conceded a single goal

Portugal lead Group B with 19 points, 25 goals scored and none conceded in under-21 European Championship qualifying. The campaign resumes in September.

Some teams win games and some teams simply refuse to let anyone into the house. Portugal's under-21 side is managing both at once, and the qualifying numbers are the sort you read twice. Almost absurdly well. Six straight wins under Luís Freire, 25 goals scored and none conceded, which gives the team both the best attack and the best defence in the qualifying phase. Portugal top Group B on 19 points with comfortable daylight. Freire became the first…

Sports 25 July 2026

The Troféu Cinco Violinos is back at Alvalade tonight, and Monaco is the guest

Sporting host Monaco in the Troféu Cinco Violinos, the last home test before the league starts. Who is playing, what pre-season showed and when the real season begins.

There are pre-season friendlies, and then there is the one where the stadium actually fills up. The Troféu Cinco Violinos is the second kind: the night Alvalade introduces itself to the new season, and this year the invitation went to Monaco. Sporting and Monaco, at Alvalade, on Saturday, with kick-off set for 7.30pm. The trophy is a house tradition and it always does the same job — giving members their first proper look at the squad before points start…

Sports 25 July 2026

The Volta a Portugal 2026 leaves Lisbon on 5 August and finishes in Porto, 1,388 km later

Dates, stages, route and what is new at the Volta a Portugal 2026: a Lisbon prologue, a time trial from Sangalhos to Águeda, Senhora da Graça climbed twice in a day and a WorldTour team back in the race.

This year's Volta a Portugal starts on 5 August in Lisbon and ends on the 16th in Porto. In between there are 1,388 kilometres, a prologue, a time trial and nine road stages, and one of the better reasons in recent years to drag a chair to the roadside and watch the peloton go by. From 5 to 16 August. It opens with a short six-kilometre prologue through the streets of Lisbon and closes in Porto twelve days later. On 10 August comes the individual time…

Sports 25 July 2026

Hwang In-beom is FC Porto's new midfielder, and he cost just 4.5 million from Feyenoord

The South Korea international signed with Porto until 2029 with an option for a further year. What he cost, what he brings and when he debuts.

FC Porto went shopping for midfield experience and did not need deep pockets to find it. Hwang In-beom is officially a Porto player, bought from Feyenoord for 4.5 million euros with performance add-ons that could reach another 500,000. The contract runs to 2029, with an option for one more season. He is 29, has 76 caps for South Korea, and arrives at the Dragão needing no introduction to anyone who watched this summer: a goal and an assist in three World…

Sports 24 July 2026

Benfica went to Switzerland as favourites and lost 2-1 to St. Gallen — now it gets tricky

Benfica opened their European season on the wrong foot, losing 2-1 away at St. Gallen in the Europa League qualifying first leg. The tie is decided on 30 July in Lisbon.

This wasn't in the script. Benfica walked into Switzerland as heavy favourites and walked out with a 2-1 defeat in the first leg of the Europa League second qualifying round. It was the Lisbon club's first competitive game of the season, the opening night of Marco Silva's tenure — and it could hardly have started in a more awkward way. St. Gallen, the Swiss runners-up, went ahead through Balde in the 37th minute. Rafa levelled just before half-time, on…

Sports 24 July 2026

The Primeira Liga kicks off on August 8 — Porto and Benfica at home, Sporting on the road

Portugal's Primeira Liga 2026/27 starts the weekend of August 8-9: Porto host Alverca, Benfica face Académico de Viseu at the Luz, and Sporting travel to Estrela da Amadora.

The World Cup is barely over, but there's no time to put your feet up: club football returns to Portugal in early August. The fixture computer has spoken, and the Primeira Liga 2026/27 now has a start date — plus an opening weekend that already looks worth the wait. The new season kicks off the weekend of August 8 and 9. That's the first step of a ten-month campaign that runs all the way to spring, with the usual three title contenders up front and a…

Sports 23 July 2026

Cristiano Ronaldo looks set to say goodbye to Portugal at Alvalade

Reports say Cristiano Ronaldo will play his final match for Portugal in September, at Lisbon's Estádio José Alvalade. When it is, and why there.

After a World Cup that may have been his last, it seems Cristiano Ronaldo already knows how he wants to close the book with the national team. Several international outlets report that the captain will wear Portugal's shirt one final time in September — and he has picked a stage that means something. According to reports, the farewell is pencilled in for 24 September at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. It is no random venue: it is Sporting's home, the…

Sports 23 July 2026

Diomande is on Nottingham Forest's radar, and they've put 40 million on Sporting's table

Nottingham Forest want Ousmane Diomande and have tabled a bid to Sporting that could reach 45 million. Sporting want 50. Here's where the deal stands.

The summer market is heating up at Alvalade, and the name of the moment is Ousmane Diomande. Premier League side Nottingham Forest have moved seriously for the Ivorian centre-back and already tabled a bid to Sporting. Nothing is done, but talks are advanced and this one could move fast. By the numbers doing the rounds, the English club put down around 40 million euros plus add-ons, a figure that could climb to 45 million. Sporting, for their part, want to…

Sports 22 July 2026

Braga opened their European season in Serbia with a goalless draw — and the tie now heads home

In the Conference League, Sp. Braga drew 0-0 away at Zeljeznicar Pancevo in the second qualifying round first leg. The tie will be settled back in Braga.

Sp. Braga's European season is up and running, and it began with some sums still to do. Away in Serbia, the northern side drew 0-0 with Zeljeznicar Pancevo in the first leg of the Conference League second qualifying round. No away goals, but no damage either: Braga keep everything open to settle the tie at home. A goalless draw says two things at once. The good: Braga didn't concede and didn't hand their opponents a lead to carry into the return. The less…

Sports 22 July 2026

Benfica open their European season in Switzerland against St. Gallen this Thursday

Benfica kick off their 2026/27 campaign on Thursday the 23rd away at St. Gallen, at 7pm Lisbon time. It is the Europa League second qualifying round, and the Portuguese side are heavy favourites.

The domestic season is still weeks away, but Benfica's European journey starts now. On Thursday the 23rd the Lisbon side travel to Switzerland to face St. Gallen in the Europa League second qualifying round — their first competitive game of 2026/27 and the opening step on a road that still has three rounds to go before the league phase. Benfica are firm favourites. St. Gallen are the Swiss runners-up and cup holders, but they have little European pedigree…

Sports 22 July 2026

Jhon Durán has joined Benfica on loan — and the club isn't done shopping

Benfica have signed Jhon Durán on loan from Al-Nassr with a buy option and locked down full-back William Bogojevic. Where the club's transfer window stands.

Benfica have finally shifted gears in the market. After a few quiet weeks, the club made Jhon Durán official — the 22-year-old Colombian striker arriving on loan from Al-Nassr — and, the very next day, announced Swedish left-back William Bogojevic too. Things are moving again in Lisbon. Durán is the headline name. He comes in from one of the richest clubs on earth to add muscle and goals up front, and the deal has a detail worth noting: a buy option that…