AC Milan vs Benfica Europa League preview

Europa League - Game Week 1

16 Sept 2026 - 15:00

San Siro

AC Milan vs Benfica will kick off on 16 Sept 2026 at 15:00 EST and 19:00 GMT.

European giants kick off Europa League group phase

AC Milan vs Benfica is usually a battle contested in the Champions League, but these giants meet on matchday 1 of this season's Europa League group phase. Milan finished fifth in last season's Serie A table, while Benfica finished third in Portugal's top flight last term.

Milan and Benfica are both in good omestic form

Milan have made a solid start to the new season in Italy, going unbeaten in their first four outings. Two have been draws, including their last couple of results, a 2-2 stalemate with Lazio and 1-1 against Juventus. Diego Moreira came off the bench against Lazio to score a brace, making his inclusion in the starting XI here likely.

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Benfica's start to the new campaign has been almost perfect, with four wins and a draw from five outings. Overall, they're on a seven-match winning streak across all competitions. They've scored 10 times in their last three league outings, with playmaker Gianluca Prestianni netting in all three of those.

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Likely XIs

Milan (3421): Maignan; Gila, De Winter, Pavlovic; Chukwueze, Musah, Rabiot, Moreira; Pulisic, Cisse; Ramos.

Benfica (4231): Soares; Banjaqui; Araujo, Lenglet, Dahl; Barreiro, Barrenechea; Silva, Prestianni, Schjelderup; Pavlidis.

Team news & squads

Ruben Amorim takes charge of AC Milan for this Europa League fixture, though the club has not yet confirmed a probable lineup, and no injury or suspension information is available at this stage.

Marco Silva leads Benfica into this contest, with squad details also yet to be confirmed. Updates on team news for both sides will be added closer to kick-off.

Form

MIL - Form

AllHome

W2-4

W1-2

W2-0

D1-1

D2-2

Goal Scored (Conceded)

11/6

Games over 2.5 goals

3/5

Both teams scored

4/5

BEN - Form

AllAway

W1-3

W2-1

W0-3

W0-4

W3-1

Goal Scored (Conceded)

15/3

Games over 2.5 goals

5/5

Both teams scored

3/5

AC Milan have won three of their last five matches, drawing one and losing one. Their most recent outing ended in a 1-1 draw at Juventus in Serie A, with the equaliser conceded in stoppage time. Prior to that, Milan won back-to-back league games against Venezia (2-0) and Torino (2-1 away). Across the five matches, Milan scored ten goals and conceded five, though their only competitive defeat came in a pre-season loss to Chelsea.

Benfica have won all five of their last matches without dropping a point. Their most recent result was a 3-0 win away at Maritimo in Liga Portugal on September 5. That run also includes a 7-0 win over Casa Pia and two Europa League qualification victories over AGF, winning 3-1 at home and 1-3 away. Benfica scored sixteen goals across those five matches and conceded just two.

Head-to-Head Record

Head to Head

Draw

1

2

0

08 Aug

Club Friendlies

Benfica

BEN

1

AC Milan

MIL

1

FT

28 Nov

Champions League

Benfica

BEN

1

AC Milan

MIL

1

FT

18 Sept

Champions League

AC Milan

MIL

2

Benfica

BEN

1

FT

4Goals Scored3

Games over 2.5 goals1/3

Both teams scored3/3

The most recent meeting between these clubs ended 1-1, a friendly played at Benfica's ground in August 2009. Before that, the sides met twice in the 2007-08 Champions League group stage: AC Milan won 2-1 at San Siro in September 2007, and the return fixture in Lisbon in November 2007 also finished 1-1. Across the three recorded meetings, neither side holds a clear advantage, with one win each and one draw.

Standings

Form

#		P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	PTS	Form
1	LyonOL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Crystal PalaceCRY	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Omonia NicosiaOMO	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	AFC BournemouthBOU	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	SunderlandSUN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	MarseilleOM	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	BesiktasBJK	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	AZ AlkmaarAZ	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	HoffenheimTSG	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Sturm GrazSGR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Sparta PragueSPP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Real SociedadRSO	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Celta VigoCEL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	AnderlechtAND	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Bayer LeverkusenB04	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Dinamo ZagrebDZG	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	NEC NijmegenNEC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Jagiellonia BialystokJAG	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	AC MilanMIL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	OlympiacosOLY	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	BenficaBEN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Hapoel Beer ShevaHBS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	NK CeljeCEL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	FerencvarosFTC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	TorreenseTOR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	SalzburgSAL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	JuventusJUV	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Viktoria PlzenVPL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	OFI CreteOFI	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Lech PoznanLCH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	CelticCEL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Union St.GilloiseGIL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	LillestroemLIL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Ararat ArmeniaAMY	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	Levski SofiaLES	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	RennesREN	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Qualification to 1/8 finals

In the Europa League, both AC Milan and Benfica are currently positioned first in the competition standings.