An early goal from full-back Samuel Dahl and a second on the stroke of full-time from Leandro Barreiro handed Benfica, under manager Jose Mourinho, its first win in this season’s Champions League as it beat Ajax Amsterdam 2-0 away on Tuesday.
Both clubs were propping up the 36-team table, having each lost their opening four matches of the campaign, but Benfica climbed up seven places in the standings while crisis-ridden Ajax remained rooted to the bottom.
Dahl thrashed home a powerful shot from the edge of the area in the sixth minute after home goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros had parried away a header from striker Richard Rios.
Barreiro set up the second goal with a fine takedown on the halfway line from a defensive clearance before playing a one-two with Fredrik Aursnes and then outstripping the Ajax defence to hammer home a powerful shot in the 90th minute.
Ajax’s best chances fell to captain Davy Klaassen, whose first opportunity in the 33rd minute was well saved and who then miscued his shot with only the goalkeeper to beat early in the second half.
Benfica hosts Napoli next, on December 10, while Ajax, which suffered a fourth successive defeat in all competitions, is away at Qarabag in Azerbaijan on the same night.
Toothless Galatasaray falls to Union Saint-Gilloise
Galatasaray’s three-match winning streak in the Champions League came to an end in a 0-1 defeat in Istanbul to Union Saint-Gilloise on Tuesday, with Promise David netting the winner for the Belgian side.
It was the Turkish side’s first home defeat since August 2024, and it remains ninth in the standings on nine points, while Union bounced back from three successive Champions League losses and is on six points in 18th place.
Galatasaray and Union are top of their respective domestic league standings, but came into Tuesday’s clash with contrasting Champions League form. The visitor, however, came away with a deserved win against a Turkish side missing its main goal threats.
All eight Galatasaray goals in the Champions League had come from two players, Victor Osimhen with six and Yunus Akgun, and with both out injured, the host struggled to break down the visitor’s disciplined defence.
Both sides hit the woodwork in a scoreless opening half — Galatasaray’s Gabriel Sara had a fierce effort from distance cannon back off the upright, and Union defender Ross Sykes hit the crossbar with a header from a corner.
The only goal came in the 57th minute when Raul Florucz’s clever reverse pass found the run of Adem Zorgane, and his pullback from the byline was side-footed into the net from the edge of the six-yard area by David.
Galatasaray piled on the pressure, and Union cleared an Abdulkerim Bardakci header off the line before the host had Arda Unyay sent off late on for a second booking and the Belgian side held on to get its campaign back on track.
Published on Nov 26, 2025