Key events
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
