UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2020/21 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Estádio do SL Benfica - Lisbon Thursday 3 December 2020 21.00CET (20.00 local time) SL Benfica Group D - Matchday 5 KKS Lech Poznań Last updated 26/02/2021 11:03CET Previous meetings 2 Match background 3 Team facts 4 Squad list 6 Fixtures and results 9 Match-by-match lineups 12 Match officials 14 Legend 15 1 SL Benfica - KKS Lech Poznań Thursday 3 December 2020 - 21.00CET (20.00 local time) Match press kit Estádio do SL Benfica, Lisbon Previous meetings Head to Head UEFA Europa League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Ishak 15, 48; Pizzi 9 22/10/2020 GS KKS Lech Poznań - SL Benfica 2-4 Poznan (P), Nuñez 42, 60, 90+3 Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA SL Benfica 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 4 2 KKS Lech Poznań 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 4 SL Benfica - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 0-0 26/09/1996 R1 Ruch Chorzów - SL Benfica Chorzow agg: 1-5 Donizete 24, João Pinto 26, Gomes 33, 12/09/1996 R1 SL Benfica - Ruch Chorzów 5-1 Lisbon Valdo 69, 90; Gesior 72 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 1-1 Kucz 45; Vítor 29/09/1993 R1 GKS Katowice - SL Benfica Katowice agg: 1-2 Paneira 69 15/09/1993 R1 SL Benfica - GKS Katowice 1-0 Lisbon Rui Costa 87 KKS Lech Poznań - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Europa League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Os Belenenses - KKS Lech 26/11/2015 GS 0-0 Lisbon Poznań KKS Lech Poznań - Os 17/09/2015 GS 0-0 Poznan Belenenses UEFA Europa League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 2-0 24/02/2011 R32 SC Braga - KKS Lech Poznań Braga Alan 8, Lima 36 agg: 2-1 17/02/2011 R32 KKS Lech Poznań - SC Braga 1-0 Poznan Rudņevs 72 Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA SL Benfica 2 2 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 2 0 11 4 KKS Lech Poznań 3 1 1 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 1 2 2 3 6 2 SL Benfica - KKS Lech Poznań Thursday 3 December 2020 - 21.00CET (20.00 local time) Match press kit Estádio do SL Benfica, Lisbon Match background Unbeaten at home in the UEFA Europa League, Benfica entertain Lech Poznań in the knowledge that victory will ensure their seventh participation in the competition's knockout phase, whereas the visitors can only stay in contention by bringing the Lisbon club's record to an end. • After sharing two draws in Lisbon and Glasgow, Benfica and Rangers are both unbeaten on eight points at the top of the Group C standings, five ahead of Lech and Standard Liège, who traded home wins on Matchdays 3 and 4, the Polish side succumbing to an added-time strike to lose 2-1 in Belgium last time out. Previous meetings • The clubs' first meeting in UEFA competition, on Matchday 1, proved particularly memorable for Benfica's new Uruguayan striker Darwin Núñez, who scored a hat-trick on his first European start to help the visitors to a 4-2 victory in Poznań, Swedish striker Mikael Ishak's double for Lech proving in vain. • Benfica's long history in UEFA competition contains just two previous pairings with Polish opponents, both in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round – victorious ties against GKS Katowice in 1993/94 and Ruch Chorzów in 1996/97, with the Eagles recording wins in each of the home legs (1-0 and 5-1 respectively). • Lech also faced opposition from Lisbon the last time they contested a UEFA Europa League group, in 2015/16, drawing 0-0 twice against Belenenses. Their only other UEFA encounters against a Portuguese club came in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League round of 32, when they beat Braga 1-0 at home but lost the tie after a second-leg 2-0 defeat. Form guide Benfica • Runners-up to Porto in the 2019/20 Portuguese Liga and Taça de Portugal, Benfica's bid to make it 11 successive appearances in the UEFA Champions League proper foundered on entry in this season's third qualifying round when, under newly reappointed head coach Jorge Jesus, they lost 2-1 at PAOK. They are therefore competing in the UEFA Europa League group stage for the first time since the competition's inaugural 2009/10 season, when they topped their section and went on to reach the quarter-finals. • Despite their extended absence from this juncture of the competition, Benfica have played more matches in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase than any other club (40) and were runners-up in both 2012/13 – to Chelsea – and 2013/14 – to Sevilla. They were participants also in the past two seasons, reaching the quarter-finals in 2018/19 but falling in the round of 32 for the first time last term, against Shakhtar Donetsk (1-2 a, 3-3 h). • The Eagles have never been beaten at home in the UEFA Europa League – a run of 25 matches, qualifying included, that comprises 20 victories. Their first four group stage games in Lisbon all ended in victory before a 3-3 draw against Rangers on Matchday 3. Lech • Runners-up to Legia Warszawa in the 2019/20 Polish Ekstraklasa, Lech thus returned to Europe after a year's absence and are now participating in the UEFA Europa League group stage for the third time. • Dariusz Żuraw's side came through four qualifying ties to reach this stage, beating Valmiera of Latvia 3-0 at home before stringing together successive away wins at Hammarby (3-0), Apollon Limassol (5-0) and, in the play-offs, Charleroi (2-1). On their group stage debut, in 2010/11, they qualified alongside Manchester City at the expense of Juventus and Salzburg before losing that round of 32 tie to Braga, whereas in 2015/16 they managed just five points and finished third in their section behind Basel and Fiorentina. • Lech's hat-trick of away wins in this season's qualifying phase followed a five-match winless streak on the road in European competition (D2 L3). They have lost both away games in Group C, at Rangers (0-1) and Standard, making their all-time record outside Poland in the UEFA Europa League group stage W2 D2 L4. Links and trivia • Lech midfielder Pedro Tiba is Portuguese and has played top-flight football in his native country for Vitória FC, Braga and Chaves. His record for those teams in nine matches against Benfica was W2 D1 L6. • Tiba was a team-mate of Benfica's Rafa Silva at Braga in 2014/15. • Jorge Jesus, who returned for a second spell as Benfica coach in the summer, led local rivals Sporting CP against Polish side Legia in the group stage of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League, winning 2-0 in Lisbon but losing 1-0 in Warsaw. • Benfica are one of six former European Cup winners in this season's UEFA Europa League group stage, the others being PSV Eindhoven (Group E), Celtic and AC Milan (H), Feyenoord (K) and Crvena zvezda (L). 3 SL Benfica - KKS Lech Poznań Thursday 3 December 2020 - 21.00CET (20.00 local time) Match press kit Estádio do SL Benfica, Lisbon Team facts SL Benfica Formed: 1904 Nickname: As Águias (The Eagles) UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets) • European Cup (2): 1961, 1962, (1963), (1965), (1968), (1988), (1990) • UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League: (1983), (2013), (2014) Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets) League title: 37 (2019) Portuguese Cup: 26 (2017) Ten-year European record (UEFA Europa League unless indicated otherwise) 2019/20: round of 32 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage) 2018/19: quarter-finals (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage) 2017/18: UEFA Champions League group stage 2016/17: UEFA Champions League round of 16 2015/16: UEFA Champions League quarter-finals 2014/15: UEFA Champions League group stage 2013/14: runners-up (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage) 2012/13: runners-up (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage) 2011/12: UEFA Champions League quarter-finals 2010/11: semi-finals (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage) Records UEFA club competition • Biggest home win 10-0: Benfica v Stade Dudelange 05/10/65, European Champion Clubs' Cup preliminary round second leg • Biggest away win 0-8: Stade Dudelange v Benfica 30/09/65, European Champion Clubs' Cup preliminary round first leg • Heaviest home defeat 1-5: Benfica v Manchester United 09/03/66, European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-finals second leg • Heaviest away defeat 7-0: Celta Vigo v Benfica 25/11/99, UEFA Cup third round first leg UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League • Biggest home win 5-0: Benfica v Everton 22/10/09, group stage • Biggest away win 0-5: Izola v Benfica 30/09/92, first round second leg • Heaviest home defeat 1-3: Benfica v Bayern München 05/12/95, third round second leg 0-2: Benfica v Galatasaray 06/11/08, group stage • Heaviest away defeat 7-0: Celta Vigo v Benfica (see above) KKS Lech Poznań Formed: 1922 Nickname: Kolejorz (Railwaymen) 4 SL Benfica - KKS Lech Poznań Thursday 3 December 2020 - 21.00CET (20.00 local time) Match press kit Estádio do SL Benfica, Lisbon UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets) • None Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets) League title: 7 (2015) Polish Cup: 5 (2009) Ten-year European record (UEFA Europa League unless indicated otherwise) 2019/20: did not take part in UEFA competition 2018/19: third qualifying round 2017/18: third qualifying round 2016/17: did not take part in UEFA competition 2015/16: group stage (having transferred from UEFA Champions League third qualifying round) 2014/15: third qualifying round 2013/14: third qualifying round 2012/13: third qualifying round 2011/12: did not take part in UEFA competition 2010/11: round of 32 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League third