Key events
Freiburg 0-0 West Ham: Sallai goes for the spectacular but his bicycle kick whacks into Soucek’s thigh resulting in the ball dribbling towards goal.
Freiburg 0-0 West Ham: Kudus drops a shoulder and cuts inside but his shot is straight at the goalkeeper.
The drama was so late in Lisbon that we are back playing at the other matches …
Kári Tulinius emails: “Freiburg v West Ham has been a match between two counter-attacking teams that are very good in set-piece situations. This is a case of the immovable object meeting the immovable object. Not even the purists will have enjoyed that half of football.”
Andy Hunter’s report from Liverpool in Prague.
Europa Conference League half-time scores
Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 Paok
Maccabi Haifa 2-1 Fiorentina
Servette 0-0 Viktoria Plzeň
Union Saint-Gilloise 0-1 Fenerbahce
Europa League half-time scores
Benfica 1-2 Rangers
Marseille 3-0 Villarreal
Milan 3-1 Slavia Prague
Freiburg 0-0 West Ham
GOAL! Benfica 1-2 Rangers (Sterling, 45+4)
Sterling taps in at the back post after good work down the left.
GOAL! Benfica 1-1 Rangers (Di Maria, pen, 45+2)
Butland is booked for his delaying tactics but Di Maria scores from the spot.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: PENALTY! The corner catches Souttar on the arm. It flicks off his head from the corner but really it is not a penalty. Naturally, the referee has awarded it. A bit of a nonsense for me.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: There is a check for a handball for a penalty but frankly if it is award it would be hilarious. There is a lengthy discussion between officials and the referee goes to the monitor. I am not so sure …
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: A corner reaches Rafa Silva on the edge of the box, he lines up a strike as Yilmaz charges out to him to deflect the shot. The resulting corner is once again whipped to the front post and causes plenty of havoc before Butland claims.
The goalkeeper is forced into another save soon after when Neves pings a shot across goal. Rangers holding on here.
Lundstram is down with a head injury.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: Down the other end Sterling gets past Aursnes and into the box. He tumbles over in front of the Benfica man and calls for a penalty but, like Di Maria, there is nowhere enough in it.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: Di Maria does a lovely turn in the box and gets a shot away but there is no power in it. Goldson tries to block the shot leading to a clash with Di Maria who rolls around for no obvious reason. The fans think a penalty should be awarded but they are as deluded as Di Maria. The VAR has a quick look, chuckles to himself and rightly awards nothing.
Freiburg 0-0 West Ham: YELLOW CARD: Sildillia bashes into Alvarez to stop an attack and is carded.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: Yilmaz wins a corner on the left. The Turk takes it but against it does not meet the first man. Rangers need to make more of these situations.
Milan 1-0 Slavia Prague: GOAL! Giroud makes the most of Slavia being down to 10 men after Diouf’s sending off.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: It is pouring down in Lisbon!
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: Dessers battles his way through to the Benfica midfield and defence. He reaches the edge of the area and the ball runs loose to Sterling who is scythed down. Tavernier lines it up … but hits the wall.
Marseille 2-0 Villarreal: GOAL! Mosquera puts the ball into the back of his own net. Propia Puerta!
Freiburg 0-0 West Ham: Nice work from Freiburg opens up West Ham but Höler fires the ball straight at Fabianski.
Down the other end Bowen has a good chance but makes poor contact on a Kudus cross and sends a shot wide.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: YELLOW CARD! Sterling overstretches to win the ball and catches Otamendi in the process. The centre-back is hilariously overdramatic. What a ludicrous individual Otamendi is.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: Aursnes takes aim for goal but his shot is deflected wide. Another Di Maria corner is whipped into the front post but once again Rangers deal with it.
Freiburg 0-0 West Ham: All very even in Germany where the crowd is the most entertaining thing on show.
Marseille 1-0 Villarreal: GOAL! Veretout opens the scoring.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: The hosts are getting back on top once more in Lisbon. Cabral spins in the box but his shot is blocked by Yilmaz. The resulting corner is headed clear by Goldson.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: Yilmaz shows Di Maria who is boss, blocking out his cross for a corner. The Argentinian sends the ball over everyone but Neres cannot make sufficient contact at the back post.
Freiburg 0-0 West Ham: A solid discussion in the commentary box about the beauty of knowing when to stand still as a football. David Silva was always great at this.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: Neres goes down in the box under a challenge from Sterling. The Brazilian desperately thinks the non-foul merits a penalty but he is having a laugh.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: A superb double save from Butland keeps Rangers ahead. First blocking from Neres and then Cabral.
Yilmaz whips in a corner from the left but it does not get further than the front post as Benfica head clear.
Freiburg 0-0 West Ham: Bowen whacks a cross along the six-yard line but the goalkeeper is there to catch before Kudus can get a touch on the ball.
Benfica 0-1 Rangers: Sterling intercepts a pass then gets whacked by Neres to earn Rangers a free-kick. Are Benfica a little rattled?
GOAL! Benfica 0-1 Rangers (Lawrence, 7)
After such a strong start from the hosts, it is Rangers who have the lead thanks to the former Manchester United man, heading home from 10 yards.
Peter Oh emails: “Is it just me or does ‘Servette – Viktoria Pilsen (Plzen)’ sound like someone behind a bar just placed a tall glass of golden suds and a napkin in front of you?”
I await someone giving me a pint.
Benfica 0-0 Rangers: Neres flashes a shot at goal but Butland does well to save. Benfica have a couple of corners in quick succession. Di Maria whips one towards goal but Lundstram heads clear.
Benfica 0-0 Rangers: The hosts are dominating the early period and putting Rangers under pressure. Clement’s side might need to increase the tempo here because Benfica are looking a little sharper.
Freiburg 0-0 West Ham: The Germans chuck a few crosses into the box in quick succession but Mavropanos is not worried about them, heading each one clear.
Benfica 0-0 Rangers: There are plenty of seats available in Lisbon. Maybe Rangers are not the draw they once were.
Freiburg 0-0 West Ham: It is a lively atmosphere in Germany. The hosts are trying to pass the ball around the back but it is an unsuccessful concept, leading to the goalkeeper kicking it out for a throw.
Kick off
The whistles do peep around the continent.
Ben Fisher on a quiet night in Amsterdam.
A difficult night for Brighton in Rome. Ed Aarons was there.
Philippe Clement: “I expect a storm, a reaction [from Benfica]. They have a lot of quality and they have never lost in the Europa League at home. It is a nice challenge for us to play against a team of that level.”
Liverpool defeated Sparta Prague 5-1 in Czech Republic. I think it is fair to say they are very much through to the next round. Klopp will make some changes next week for sure.
West Ham played Freiburg in the group stage winning both games, which is an indication that they have the Germans’ number. They must be bored of facing them.
Football finance is all the rage.
My only trip to the Estadio da Luz came when I was on holiday in Lisbon. There was no football on but they have a bar open in the stadium and you can have a pint overlooking the pitch. It was lovely on a hot day.
Jacob Steinberg on the Hammers (mainly Lucas Paqueta).
Starting lineups: Benfica v Rangers
Benfica: Trubin; Aursnes, António Silva, Otamendi, Bah; João Neves, Florentino; Di María, Rafa Silva, Neres; Cabral
Subs: Samuel S., André Gomes, Diogo Spencer, T. Araújo, Morato, A. Carreras, Kökcü, J. Mário, Tiago Gouveia, Rollheiser, M. Leonardo and Tengstedt
Rangers: Butland; Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Yilmaz; Lundstram, Diomande; Sterling, Fabio Silva, Lawrence; Dessers.
Subs: McCrorie, K. Wright, Jack, Roofe, Davies, Barisic, King, Raskin, McCausland, Yfeko, Fraser, McKinnon.
Starting lineups: Freiburg v West Ham
Freiburg: Atubolu, Sildillia, Ginter, Gulde, Günter, Höfler, Doan, Eggestein, Höler, Grifo, Sallai
Subs: Muller, Uphoff, Szalai, Weisshaupt, Keitel, Kubler, Adamu, Muslija, Philipp, Makengo, Rohl, Gregortisch
West Ham: Fabianski; Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson; Soucek, Alvarez; Kudus, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta; Bowen
Subs: Areola, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Ings, Johnson, Phillips, Antonio, Mubama, Earthy, Anang, Orford, Casey
Preamble
After the fun of the early evening kick-offs, we head into the late night action. For those of a British persuasion the interest comes in Lisbon where Benfica host Rangers, while West Ham have travelled to Freiburg (again). Elsewhere, Marseille host Villarreal which should be a fun tie in the Europa League.
Benfica will be a good barometer for Rangers to find out where they stand on the continent. They have plenty of talented young players who will undoubtedly move in the years to come but with plenty of experience mixed among the tearaways. Ángel Di María and Nicolás Otamendi provide a little bit of Argentinian glitz and experience to the formula. They come into the match off the back of a 5-0 pummelling at Porto, so will be desperate to bounce back.
This is the business end of the European football calendar but the Europa Conference League is offering little to whet the appetite.
Here’s to a fun night.
8pm GMT kick offs:
Europa League
Benfica v Rangers
Marseille v Villarreal
Milan v Slavia Prague
Freiburg v West Ham
Europa Conference League
Dinamo Zagreb v Paok
Maccabi Haifa v Fiorentina
Servette v Viktoria Plzeň
Union Saint-Gilloise v Fenerbahce