Benfica vs Toulouse

Ligue 1 relegation fighters Toulouse head to the Estadio da Luz to trade tackles with Benfica in the first leg of their Europa Conference League knockout playoff tie.

Despite failing to progress beyond the Champions League group stages for the first time in three years, Benfica’s 3-1 triumph against RB Salzburg last time out helped them switch to the Europa League knockouts. They’ll enter the competition in a buoyant mood, considering that the win against Salzburg is part of an impressive run of 11 victories from their last 13 outings across all competitions. It’s also worth noting the Eagles haven’t lost any of their 26 home outings since the tournament was rebranded to the Europa League in 2009 (W21, D5), consolidating their bid to strengthen a solid all-time record against Frenc clubs in European action (W15, D9, L8). Yet drawing 2-2 against 10-man Vitoria Guimaraes last weekend was hardly a desirable warm-up.

On the other hand, Toulouse’s form in the build-up to their first-ever appearance in the knockout stages of European competition comes amid a rough patch, with ‘Le Tefece’ losing three of their last four competitive games (W1), including a 2-1 defeat to Nantes at the weekend. Indeed, they’ve only won three of their nine competitive fixtures (D1, L5) since their last European assignment in December. By contrast, they’ve impressed on the road, as evidenced by a morale-boosting run of three wins across their last four travels (L1). Nothing less significant is the fact they netted precisely three goals on three of those four road trips ahead of their maiden journey to Portuguese soil.