Benfica are preparing to return to competition in the Europa League, this Thursday, with the reception of Olympique Marseille counting for the first leg of the 'quarters', precisely after two derbies against Sporting, which ended up being punishing for Roger Schmidt's team.

The eagles drew in the first duel against their rival Sporting (2-2 at Luz) and, thus, ended up being eliminated at the gates of the Portuguese Cup final, followed by a defeat in Alvalade (2-1) complicating the accounts of the fight for the I League throne, staying four points behind the lions (who still have a match in arrears), so the last alternative to end the season smiling may even be to reach a European final.

With second place already comfortable (nine points more than FC Porto, six rounds from the end of the championship), Benfica intends to rely on the (short) history against the Marseille club, in order to be able to fly high in the second largest European club competition. All this because, in two different qualifiers, it was the same club that smiled. In 1989/90, the Luz team reached the final of the European Champions Cup with a 1-0 home win, after a 2-1 defeat in France, in an aggregate of 2-2 that was favored by the goal scored away from home. Already in 2009/10, the draw at Luz (1-1) was followed by a victory at the Vélodrome (1-2), culminating in qualification for the 'quarters' of the Europa League.

It should be noted that, ahead, the only Portuguese team that is still competing in this season's European competitions will find a weakened opponent, with four consecutive defeats, but highly focused on the goal of reaching the 'semis', given the postponement of the match against Nice, in order to concentrate only and only on the double commitment with Benfica. Note also the controversy related to the ban on Olympique Marseille fans entering Luz, in a position taken by the incarnates after learning of a similar ban, by the French authorities, of Portuguese fans in Marseille, in the second leg duel.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 8 pm (Continental Portugal time) this Thursday, at Estádio da Luz, with refereeing by Englishman Michael Oliver, and you can follow the incidents of the match, live, on Desporto ao Minuto.

Coaches in direct speech

Roger Schmidt

Europa League saves the season?: "It's a great competition, of course. We love playing the Champions League, but when you're not part of it anymore, the Europa League is a great competition. If you see the teams qualified for the quarter-finals, you see the quality of the team. The fact that Benfica reaches this stage of the season still in international competitions is very good. We know that if we play at our best, the quarter-finals will not be the last step. It's up to us to seize this opportunity and the experience of last season. We have a lot of experience in international situations, and the way we are, it will be very good for what remains of the season. I like playing international football".

Marseille's bad moment: "Right now, they are seventh in Ligue 1. It is still possible for them to reach the European competitions to save the season. They are also in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. They were good, internationally. It is a team that plays very physical and active football, with clear individual quality, with Pierre-Emerick Aubayemang, for example, who I know very well, from the Bundesliga. He's doing very well. The game is based on his qualities, but they have a team that makes life difficult for all the other teams. I'm not interested in what happened at the beginning of the season, because I have to be focused on tomorrow's game".

Are you already thinking about next season?: "I'm not thinking about next season at all, to be honest. I haven't even had a single thought about the game after this one. I'm completely focused on each game. We always do our best to win. We need the best eleven to win. It doesn't mean that we always play with the same ones, because we're going to play tomorrow and on Saturday. We'll see how the players recover. We need all the players, to have a good end to the season".

Jean-Louis Gasset

Analysis of the opponent: "Benfica has been working very well for many years. We are going to have a game with a historic club, which has already won the Champions League. Benfica is a mix of very experienced players, such as Otamendi and Di Maria, but also of young players who are about to explode and show themselves in Europe".

European mentality to face a bad moment: "The players approach the Europa League with a different state of mind, not from the French League. I hope to see that against Benfica. I know that it is a privilege to play in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. It is not every day that players can play in the quarter-finals, so they have to raise the level even more".

Controversy over the ban on visiting fans in both games: "Football is a party. It is logical that the fans can support us here, as it will be logical to have Benfica fans at the Vélodrome next week".

Recent results

Benfica: D-E-V-V-V

Olympique Marseille: D-D-D-D-V

Recent starting lineups

Benfica: Anatoliy Trubin, Alexander Bah, António Silva, Nicolás Otamendi, Fredrik Aursnes, Florentino Luís, João Neves, Ángel Di María, Rafa Silva, David Neres and Casper Tengstedt.

Olympique Marseille: Pau López, Ulisses Garcia, Samuel Gigot, Leonardo Balerdi, Quentin Merlin, Pape Gueye, Azzedine Ounahi, Jordan Veretout, Luis Henrique, Pierre Aubameyang and Amine Harit.

Absences

Benfica: Juan Bernat (injured).

Olympique Marseille: Jonathan Clauss (injured).

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