Benfica starting XI (4-2-3-1): Trubin, Dedic, Araujo, Otamendi, Dahl, Rios, Barrenechea, Aursnes (subbed for Freitas), Barreiro (subbed for Neto), Sudakov (subbed for Silva), Ivanovic (subbed for Pavlidis)
Bench: Soares, Manu, Schjelderup, Prestianni, Wynder, R.Rego, Veloso, J.Rego
Goals: Rios 20’, Barreiro 49’
Napoli starting XI (3-4-3): Milinkovic-Savic, Beukema (subbed for Politano), Rrahmani, Buongiorno (subbed for Juan Jesus), Di Lorenzo, McTominay, Elmas (subbed for Vergara), Olivera (subbed for Spinazzola), Neres, Hojlund, Lang (subbed for Lucca)
Bench: Contini, Ferrante, Ambrosino
Richard Ríos was the architect of Benfica’s victory, scoring the opener and setting up his teammate for the second to cap a dominant night for the Portuguese side.
Benfica started brightly and built the pressure early. Napoli’s goalkeeper Vanja Milinković-Savić was called into action within the opening quarter-hour, pulling off a fine one-handed save, but the visitors struggled to establish a foothold in the game as the hosts dictated the tempo.
The breakthrough arrived on 20 minutes when a floated Benfica cross caused chaos in the Napoli penalty area. Ríos was quickest to react amid the scramble, steering the ball home and igniting jubilant scenes among the home supporters.
Under four minutes into the second half, Ríos turned provider—delivering an inch-perfect pass for Leandro Barreiro to flick a composed finish past Milinković-Savić.
Napoli tried to respond, with David Neres and Scott McTominay probing for openings, but their attacks rarely troubled a disciplined Benfica backline. Milinković-Savić denied substitute Vangelis Pavlidis with a strong save, keeping the deficit at two—but there was little else falling Napoli’s way as the Portuguese side controlled the latter stages.
The defeat leaves Napoli in a precarious position on the table with just seven points and qualification to the knockout stages far from certain.
