Benfica beats Lech Poznań 3:1 in Lisbon, leaving Lech on one Europa League point

Before kickoff

Lech Poznań went to Lisbon with one point from three league-phase matches, after 0:4 defeats to Crystal Palace and Bayer Leverkusen and a 1:1 draw with Sunderland. Benfica had won all three of its league-phase games, beating AC Milan 2:0 and winning 4:1 against both Celtic and Omonia.

Former Lech player and Poland captain Jacek Bąk told Interia that the team was hard to make sense of this season, and he questioned how it could lose to a fourth-tier side in the Polish Cup.

“At times Lech's players don't look bad, but this season it's hard to understand this team.”

Lech's coach Niels Frederiksen, who turned 56 on the day of the match, said his side wanted a first win in the competition.

“We came to Lisbon to fight for our first win. I believe it is possible.”

The match

Benfica won 3:1 at the Estadio da Luz on Thursday, 5 November, in the fourth matchday of the league phase. Rafa Silva opened the scoring in the 6th minute, pushing the ball in after goalkeeper Mateusz Lis could not hold a cross from Andreas Schjelderup. Lech then created its own chances, with Pablo Rodriguez hitting the target in the first half hour and Schjelderup firing a late first-half shot that Terry Yegbe blocked on the line, after which the ball struck the crossbar and went out. Lech came out stronger after the break, but Benfica doubled its lead in the 67th minute when Gianluca Prestianni, who had come on minutes earlier, beat Lis. Leo Bengtsson, another substitute, pulled one back for Lech after a careless pass from Enzo Barrenechei, with sources giving the 72nd and 73rd minute for the goal. Georgiy Sudakov completed the scoring in the 90th minute, and the final score was 3:1.

Lech's campaign so far

Lech has conceded early in several league-phase matches, in the 10th minute against Crystal Palace, in the 2nd against Sunderland and in the 6th minute in Lisbon, according to TVP. The defeat leaves Lech with one point after four matches, second-to-last in the table. Interia counted that Lech kept a clean sheet in only 6 of its 24 matches this season, about 25 percent of games. Lech's next match is away to Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in the fifth matchday on 26 November.

Poland's UEFA club ranking

Poland gained no points in the UEFA club ranking from this round, as Jagiellonia lost 0:1 to Lewski Sofia on the same day. The ranking as of 5 November puts Poland 12th with 45.725 points, behind the Czech Republic (46.325 points, 11th) and Greece (47.612 points, 10th).

Greece (10th)47.612

Czech Republic (11th)46.325

Poland (12th)45.725

Norway (13th)41.012

Denmark (14th)40.806

Greece (10th)

47.612 points

Czech Republic (11th)

46.325 points

Poland (12th)

45.725 points

Norway (13th)

41.012 points

Denmark (14th)

40.806 points

Data from the article text

Norway (41.012 points) and Denmark (40.806 points) sit just below Poland in 13th and 14th place. Finishing 10th in the ranking at the end of the 2027/2028 season would give the Polish champion a direct place in the 2028/2029 Champions League league phase, while the runner-up would enter qualifying. In that scenario, five Polish teams would take part in European competition.