Benfica hammers Hearts 6-1 and books Europa League spot

Benfica showed no mercy to Hearts at Da Luz. The Portuguese side, under Marco Silva, thrashed the Scottish outfit 6-1 in the first leg of the Europa League third qualifying round and effectively secured their passage to the next stage.

Rafa Silva opened the scoring in the third minute. Tomás Araújo (23') and Vangelis Pavlidis from the penalty spot (42') made it 3-0 before half-time. After the break, Gianluca Prestianni added the fourth. Hearts pulled one back through Tom Renaud, but Jhon Durán (87') and Andreas Schjelderup (94') wrapped up the 6-1 rout.

This is Benfica's second consecutive demolition in this qualifying phase — they also beat FC St. Gallen 5-0. The return fixture takes place next Thursday. According to Mundo Deportivo, the Portuguese will then face the winner of the Champions League tie between Aarhus and Qarabag for a place in the league phase.