Benfica's Perfect Europa League Record Faces Its Latest Test Against OFI

Benfica vs OFI. UEFA Europa League. Thursday 10 December 2026. If you are looking for a complicated story here, you will not find one. Benfica have been outstanding in this competition. OFI have been competitive. One of those things matters a great deal more than the other.

Benfica: Five Played, Five Won

The thing is, five wins from five in the Europa League is not luck. That is standards being maintained week after week. Benfica have scored 16 goals in those five matches and conceded just four. They beat AC Milan 2-0. They beat Celtic 4-1. They beat Lech Poznan 3-1. They beat Omonia Nicosia 4-1. They beat AGF 3-1. The desire and the execution have been there every single time.

Listen, that is a body of work you cannot argue with. I do not need a laptop to tell me that a team beating AC Milan 2-0 and Celtic 4-1 in the same competition is in serious form. That is competing at the highest level and delivering. End of.

The injury picture is worth noting. Benfica have one long-term absentee who has been out since May 2026, and a second player ruled out with a major injury sustained in September 2026. Those are real absences. But a squad that has responded by winning five consecutive matches clearly has the depth and the attitude to cope. No excuses have been made. None should be entertained.

OFI: Solid but Limited

OFI are not here to make up the numbers, and their record deserves honest analysis. Three wins and two losses from their five Europa League matches. The wins have come against Hapoel Be'er Sheva, 1899 Hoffenheim, and CSKA Sofia, all by a 2-0 scoreline. Clean sheets in each of those victories. That tells you something about their defensive organisation and their ability to execute a game plan when the conditions suit them.

The thing is, the conditions will not suit them here. They lost 0-2 to Bayer Leverkusen and 1-2 to Rennes when they faced better opposition. The basics held up against weaker sides. Against top-end quality, the gaps appeared. Benfica are top-end quality right now. That is not an opinion. That is what the evidence says.

OFI's 60 per cent clean sheet rate in this competition is genuinely impressive. I will give them that. But three of those five matches came against opposition well below what they will face on Thursday evening. The accountability falls on the players to replicate that defensive discipline on a much harder night.

The Verdict

Benfica at home in the Europa League right now is about as close to a certainty as this game gives you. They have the desire, the attitude, and the basics fully in place. They are scoring goals freely and their opponents simply have not been able to live with them when the quality gap is this wide.

OFI will defend. They will make it uncomfortable for periods. That is what their results tell us they are capable of. But uncomfortable is not unacceptable for a Benfica side that has already beaten AC Milan in this competition. It is a bump in the road, not a barrier.

I am backing Benfica to win this match. One selection, backed with conviction. The form is there, the home advantage is there, and the opposition, with respect, has shown clear limitations against elite-level sides. Benfica win. I will be surprised if it is not by a healthy margin.