AC Milan will start their Europa League campaign against SL Benfica. The Italians last played in this tournament in 2023/24, where they reached the quarterfinals after being eliminated by fellow Italian side AS Roma. Benfica played this competition for the last time in that same season, also reaching the quarterfinals but losing to Marseille on penalties. Surprisingly, neither side has ever won the Europa League (or its predecessor, the UEFA Cup) despite participating many times over the past decades, though Benfica did reach three finals, the last time being in 2014. Milan are currently 6th in the Serie A, having gone unbeaten so far after four games (2W, 2D). The Rossoneri come into this game after picking up a draw in Rome against Lazio. After going down 2-0, the young Diego Moreira scored a brace coming off the bench to rescue a point. With Croatian legend Luka Modrić coming off at halftime, Ruben Amorim explained after the match that he lacked the pace necessary for when his side needs runs rather than playing from possession. Christian Pulisic could see some minutes in this match, having finally made his first appearance last weekend where he had a positive impact, after being left on the bench for the first three Serie A games. The American hasn’t scored in 19 games; his goal drought goes all the way back to 2025. Benfica has looked very strong so far this season under new manager Marco Silva. The Portuguese side has scored three or more goals in 8 of the last 10 games. They’re in 2nd place in the Liga Portugal after 6 matches while still being unbeaten (5W, 1D), only behind reigning champions Porto, who have still won every game. Vangelis Pavlidis has already scored 14 goals and gotten 3 assists in 11 games; if anyone will score a goal for Benfica in this game, it will surely be the Greek international. Milan has never lost to Benfica in major European competitions (4W, 2D), which includes two finals as well in 1963 and 1990.