Preview: St Gallen vs Benfica - prediction, team news, lineups

Starting their quest to reach this season's Europa League, Portuguese giants Benfica begin a new campaign on Thursday, when they visit Swiss side St Gallen at the Sitterstadion.

Though the World Cup has only just finished, clubs all around Europe are already back in competitive action, and this pair will meet for the first leg of a second qualifying round tie.

Match preview

While they ended a strange 2025-26 campaign unbeaten in Portugal's Primeira Liga, Benfica failed to challenge for the title and finished third under Jose Mourinho.

Still, that proved enough for Real Madrid to lure the veteran manager back to Spain, and Marco Silva has since replaced him at Estadio da Luz.

Born in Lisbon, the ex-Estoril coach returns to his homeland after nearly a decade in England, where he most recently received acclaim for some solid work at Fulham.

With little time to prepare for their latest continental campaign, former European champions Benfica have played two pre-season friendlies, losing 2-1 to Flamengo before beating Villarreal 2-0.

Now, Silva's side face two Europa League qualifying rounds plus a potential playoff, after Torreense’s shock cup final win over Sporting saw them claim Portugal's automatic place instead.

Under Mourinho, Benfica reached the knockout phase of last season's Champions League, where they were immediately eliminated by Real Madrid - but this run will begin in more modest surroundings.

By contrast with their illustrious visitors, St Gallen are minnows on the continental scene, rarely making any impact on UEFA competition.

Amid the odd failure in qualifying, the Swiss side finished last in their 2013 Europa League group, then 29th in the 2024 Conference League table.

This year, they must overcome tough opposition just to set up a third round tie, where the loser of a Champions League clash between Sturm Graz and Hearts would await; alternatively, defeat to Benfica would see them transfer down to the Conference League.

It was an eventful 2025-26 campaign for St Gallen, who beat Stade Lausanne-Ouchy 3-0 in the domestic cup final and ended their 26-year wait for a major trophy.

Enrico Maassen's men also finished runners-up behind shock winners FC Thun in the Swiss Super League, making it by far their best season for several decades.

However, since returning to action this summer, three friendly wins have been followed by two heavy defeats: 6-3 to Lyon and 3-0 to Norwich City.

St Gallen pre-season form:

W W W L L

Benfica pre-season form:

W W

Team News

Joining new winger Jakub Kaminski at the club, itinerant striker Jhon Duran has just signed for Benfica, but it remains to be seen if he will be fit enough to feature on Thursday.

Marco Silva's dugout debut comes with several men missing: Gianluca Prestianni is still suspended; Bruma is injured; Richard Rios, Dodi Lukebakio, Fredrik Aursnes and Andreas Schjelderup are all on leave after playing at the World Cup.

More positively, Amar Dedic and Tomas Araujo may return in time, while Clement Lenglet has arrived on loan from Atletico Madrid and adds experience in central defence.

Though he only managed two goals in last term's Champions League campaign, Vangelis Pavlidis has scored in both pre-season friendlies and is expected to start up front.

Charged with keeping the Greek striker at bay, Ghana goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi provides St Gallen's last line of defence.

The hosts will be without long-term absentee Behar Neziri (ACL), while Nino Weibel (knee) is a doubt for the first leg.

Sent off in the recent friendly defeat to Lyon, German midfielder Lukas Gortler - who has scored twice in 15 previous UEFA competition appearances - will captain the home side.

St Gallen possible starting lineup:

Ati-Zigi; Gaal, Stanic, Okoroji; Vandermersch, Gortler, Daschner, Boukhalfa, Stevanovic; Besio, Balde

Benfica possible starting lineup:

Trubin; Bah, A. Silva, Lenglet, Dahl; Barrenechea, Barreiro; R. Silva, Sudakov, Kaminski; Pavlidis

We say: St Gallen 1-2 Benfica

St Gallen are further along in their pre-season preparations and have home advantage for this first leg, which should somewhat narrow the vast gap to Benfica.

Though the visitors are missing several World Cup players, Marco Silva still has a strong squad to choose from, including proven performers in European competition.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.