Benfica went into St. Gallen vs Benfica with a changed midfield after Leandro Barreiro was ruled out because of a respiratory infection. The Portuguese club also left John Durán out of the squad and had Gianluca Prestianni suspended before kick-off.
The timing matters because the match was already drawing interest as a UEFA Europa League tie in which Benfica were expected to carry the edge, yet the club had to reveal its plan without one of its midfield options. Marco Silva framed that status plainly, saying the outcome would be decided on the field, not by reputation.
Benfica answered with a 4-2-3-1 and named Trubin in goal behind Samuel Bah, António Silva, Lenglet and Dahl. Miguel Figueiredo and Manu Silva were set in front of the back line, with Rafa Silva, Sudakov and Kaminski behind Vangelis Pavlidis. St. Gallen replied in a 3-5-2 with Ati-Zigi in goal, Goal, Jozo Stanic and Okoroji at the back, Vandermersch and Görtler among the midfield runners, and Lukas Daschner, Boukhalfa, Mihailo Stevanovic, Witzig and Aliou Balde in the starting group.
That lineup sheet also showed how Benfica would have to redistribute responsibility without Barreiro. With the reserve list including Barrenechea, Ivanović, Dedić, Tomás Araújo, Tiago Gouveia, Daniel Banjaqui, José Neto, Anísio Cabral, Gonçalo Moreira, João Rego and Rui Silva, the squad still had options, but the available balance in midfield had clearly shifted before a ball was kicked. St. Gallen, meanwhile, named Watkowiak, Andrin Hunziker, Frokaj, Betim Fazliji, Diego Besio, Enoch Owusu, Konietzke, Heydari and Joel Ruiz among its substitutes.
The match was handled by Luca Pairetto, with Stefano Alassio and Valerio Colarossi as assistants, Giovanni Ayroldi as fourth official and Daniele Doveri on video assistant referee duty. That official team and the named lineups turned the pre-match sheet into the full story of the night: Benfica had the bigger record, but St. Gallen had its own reason for believing, having reached this competition for the eighth time in its history and carrying the memory of eliminating Chelsea in 2000/01. Benfica, for its part, had reached three Europa League finals, losing to Anderlecht in 1983, Chelsea in 2013 and Sevilla in 2014.
The only thing left was the field at the AFG Arena in Switzerland, where Benfica had to make its absence count less than its selection.
