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Halis Sunnetci 21 August 2026•Update: 21 August 2026 Benfica defeated Danish side Aarhus 3-1 at home Thursday to take a two-goal advantage in their UEFA Europa League playoff tie. The Portuguese hosts opened the scoring through Rafa Silva in the second minute, with the Benfica attacking midfielder converting from close range. Leandro Barreiro doubled the lead in the 31st minute, finishing from close range following a corner. Aarhus pulled one back five minutes later when Sebastian Jorgensen found the bottom corner after being set up by Jacob Andersen. Benfica restored their two-goal lead in first-half stoppage time as Vangelis Pavlidis converted a penalty, sending the hosts into the break 3-1 ahead. Benfica continued to apply pressure in the second half but could not add to their lead. Aarhus goalkeeper Mads Hedenstad denied Andreas Schjelderup in the 78th minute before saving Samuel Dahl’s stoppage-time effort. The 3-1 victory gives Benfica a strong advantage ahead of next week’s second leg in Denmark. The second legs will be played Aug. 27, with the winners on aggregate advancing to the Europa League phase. Thursday's results Kairat Almaty 0-3 Anderlecht Jagiellonia 4-0 Iberia Tbilisi Mjallby 0-1 Salzburg Trabzonspor 0-1 Ferencvaros Universitatea Craiova 1-1 Ararat-Armenia Egnatia 0-0 Lillestrom Lech Poznan 7-0 Thun Besiktas 3-0 Kauno Zalgiris Sint-Truiden 1-0 Omonia Red Star Belgrade 3-0 Viktoria Plzen OFI Crete 3-0 CSKA Sofia Benfica 3-1 Aarhus