FC Twente Vs. Benfica, UEFA Champions League Playoff: Benfica Hit Back To Take Lead In Enschede

It’s FC Twente 1-2 SL Benfica in Enschede, with the Portuguese coming from behind to take the lead. Twente opened the scoring relatively early, as Luuk de Jong picked up the ball in midfield, driving at the Benfica defence before unleashing a superb 25-yard missile which left Artur Moraes with no chance.

Their lead was not to last long though – Benfica had already shown signs of their attacking danger as Gaitan forced his way through the Twente defence, only to misplace his finish. Shortly afterwards, however, Cardozo equalised, with another screamer coming after Pablo Aimar had won the ball in midfield. The Paraguayan was given the freedom of Enschede to run through the centre and unleash a powerful drive in the far side of the goal, albeit one which Mihaylov should have done better with.

And Benfica continued to punish their hosts’ lack of concentration, springing a counter-attack once again to take the lead, with a wonderful team move started by an incisive pass from Oscar Cardozo releasing Alex Witsel, who selflessly squared to give Nolito the simplest of finishes.

FC Twente are unlikely to come back from a deficit like this, so they will need to improve quickly in the second half and at the very least restore parity if they are to stand a chance of progressing to the group stage. Stay tuned to this thread for the full-time report.