Preview: AC Milan vs Benfica - prediction, team news, lineups

Two former European champions will clash in UEFA's second-tier competition, when AC Milan open their Europa League campaign against Benfica on Wednesday evening.

Set to meet at San Siro, the pair missed out on Champions League qualification last season, but they are among the favourites to lift the trophy in Frankfurt next spring.

Match preview

Six defeats from their last 10 league games loosened Milan's grip on Champions League football last term, sparking a quick cull of the club's management.

With Max Allegri's second spell abruptly ended after one year, Ruben Amorim was hired to turn things around, and his new team are undefeated so far.

After victories over Torino and Venezia, the Rossoneri have been held to consecutive Serie A draws by Juventus and Lazio - albeit in very different circumstances.

First, Juve found a late leveller to deny Milan maximum points in Turin, before Amorim's men fought back from two goals down for a hard-earned draw in Rome.

Having missed out entirely last year, the Italian giants can now return to continental competition for the first time since exiting the 2024-25 Champions League in the knockout round playoffs.

Meanwhile, Amorim's most recent experience was losing the 2025 Europa League final as Manchester United manager, having previously made an impact at the elite level with Sporting Lisbon.

Rather romantically, Milan's league-phase campaign will begin against his old club, who Amorim represented for nine years as a player; as a coach, he generally got the better of Benfica while in charge of Sporting.

History also suggests Benfica could struggle to take any points home, as they have yet to defeat Milan in six competitive meetings - including two European Cup finals, in 1963 and 1990.

Like the Rossoneri, Portugal's most successful club also failed to match expectations last season, finishing third in the Primeira Liga under Jose Mourinho.

That meant a journey through the Europa League's qualifying rounds for new boss Marco Silva, whose reign began with a shock loss to St. Gallen.

Benfica recovered to see off the Swiss side with an emphatic 5-0 second-leg win, before smashing Hearts 7-2 and AGF 6-2 on aggregate, taking them into the league phase.

Since then, the Eagles have proved unstoppable on the domestic scene, claiming maximum points from their next four games while firing home 12 goals.

Last time out, a late rally turned a potential home draw with Gil Vicente into a 3-1 victory, marking their seventh straight win across all competitions.

With confidence sky high, Silva's men must now tackle two tough away fixtures, as a visit to Porto will follow Wednesday's tricky trip to Milan.

AC Milan form (all competitions):

Benfica Europa League form:

Benfica form (all competitions):

Team News

Amorim may decide to rotate his squad for this midweek contest, but Milan will surely line up in his familiar 3-4-2-1 formation.

The hosts could have a clean bill of health, as defensive duo Mattia Gabbia and Mario Gila both overcame minor issues to make the squad against Lazio.

It remains to be seen if 41-year-old Luka Modric is asked to start again. The Croatian playmaker has made 156 European appearances but his last outside the Champions League was in November 2011.

Assuming Goncalo Ramos is not rested, several candidates are vying to support the former Benfica striker: Alphadjo Cisse, Alexis Saelemaekers, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Omari Hutchinson and Christian Pulisic all hope to play.

While Ramos will aim to score against his old club, Benfica's front line is now led by Vangelis Pavlidis, who rattled in six goals throughout qualifying.

Furthermore, the prolific striker already has eight in the Primeira Liga, and he boasts a hit rate of one every two games in UEFA competition.

The visitors must travel without Alexander Bah, who is still sidelined by a shoulder injury, so either Daniel Banjaqui or verstaile captain Fredrik Aursnes should start at right-back.

AC Milan possible starting lineup:

Maignan; De Winter, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Chukwueze, Modric, Musah, Moreira; Pulisic, Cisse; Ramos

Benfica possible starting lineup:

Soares; Aursnes, Araujo, Lenglet, Dahl; Palhinha, Barreiro; Silva, Prestianni, Schjelderup; Pavlidis