Benfica close in on Tottenham triumph

SL Benfica can take a step towards a second successive UEFA Europa League final when they host Tottenham Hotspur FC, having earned a convincing 3-1 first-leg win in London.

• A goal from Rodrigo (30) and two for Luisão (58, 84) either side of Christian Eriksen's free-kick (64) helped Benfica to inflict the worst result at White Hart Lane in Tottenham's European history. Only once previously had they lost a UEFA game by two goals at home, against FC Luzern in a 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup match played in Brighton.

Previous meetings
• Béla Guttman's Benfica got the better of Bill Nicholson's Tottenham in the semi-finals of the 1961/62 European Champion Clubs' Cup on the way to beating Real Madrid CF 5-3 in the final. Benfica won 3-1 at home and took the lead in the return fixture, going through despite losing 2-1 on the night.

• The teams at the Estádio da Luz on 21 March 1962 were:
Benfica: Costa Pereira, Mário João, Ângelo Martins, Cavém, Fernando Cruz, Germano, José Augusto, Águas, Coluna, Eusébio, António Simões.
Tottenham: Brown, Baker, Henry, Norman, Blanchflower, Greaves, Mackay, Marchi, Jones, Smith, White.

Match background
• Tottenham have yet to recover from losing the home leg of a UEFA tie; the nearest they came was following up a 1-0 home loss to PSV Eindhoven at this stage of the 2007/08 UEFA Cup with a 1-0 win in the Netherlands, before losing the tie on penalties.

• Benfica have played 33 games against English clubs in UEFA competition, including last season's UEFA Europa League final in Amsterdam, which they lost 2-1 to Chelsea FC. Their record in those games is W11 D5 L17 (W7 D3 L5 in Lisbon). They lost the 1968 European Cup final 4-1 to Manchester United FC on neutral territory at Wembley.

• Tottenham have played 11 games against Portuguese sides in UEFA competition, with the record W7 D1 L3 (W2 D1 L2 in Portugal).

• Benfica are unbeaten in ten European home games (W9 D1) since a 2-0 UEFA Champions League group stage loss to FC Barcelona on 2 October 2012. They have yet to lose a home game in 16 outings (W15 D1) in the UEFA Europa League since the competition was rebranded in 2009.

• Tottenham had won all four of their 2013/14 UEFA Europa League away games without conceding before going down 1-0 at FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the round of 32 first leg.

• After entering the round of 32 from the UEFA Champions League group stage, Benfica are aiming to reach the final for the second successive season.

• Tottenham beat FC Internazionale Milano on away goals at this stage of last season's competition to reach the quarter-finals, where they lost to FC Basel 1893 on penalties.

Team facts
• Benfica's Miralem Sulejmani played with Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen (2008-12) and midfielder Christian Eriksen (2010-13) at AFC Ajax.

• Spurs' Emmanuel Adebayor and Benfica's Ezequiel Garay were briefly team-mates at Real Madrid in the spring of 2011, when Adebayor was on loan from Manchester City FC.

• Benfica's Eduardo Salvio rejoined Ola Toivonen on top of the UEFA Europa League's all-time appearance list, making his 36th outing of the competition in the 3-0 win against FC PAOK in the round of 32 second leg. It was also his 50th UEFA club competition appearance.

• Benfica forward Lima made his 50th UEFA club competition appearance at White Hart Lane in the first leg.

• Tottenham (1972, 1984) are one of six previous UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League winners left in the competition along with Sevilla FC (2006, 2007), Valencia CF (2004), SSC Napoli (1989), FC Porto (2003, 2011) and final hosts Juventus (1977, 1990, 1993).

• FC Salzburg and Tottenham were the highest scorers in the group stage with 15 goals apiece. Spurs, PFC Ludogorets Razgrad and Real Betis Balompié boasted the meanest defences in the group stage, each conceding just two goals.

• Tottenham and Salzburg were the only clubs that came through the group stage with 100% records. Only three other sides have won all six of their group matches since the advent of the UEFA Europa League: Salzburg (2009/10), FC Zenit (2010/11) and RSC Anderlecht (2011/12).

• Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel became the UEFA Europa League's oldest participant with his appearance against FC Sheriff on matchday four. He displaced another keeper, FC Twente's Sander Boschker, as he took to the field aged 42 years and 173 days – 140 days older than Boschker. He was 42 years and 278 days old when he faced Dnipro in the first leg of the round of 32.

• Benfica matched a UEFA Europa League landmark when they recorded their tenth successive home win, the 3-0 victory against PAOK in the round of 32 enabling them to equal Club Atlético de Madrid's record and prolonging a sequence that began back on 1 April 2010. The result also brought an end to PAOK's record run of nine away matches without defeat.

Coach information
• Benfica coach Jorge Jesus followed in his father Jesus Virgolino's footsteps by signing for Sporting Clube de Portugal as a youngster and was a journeyman midfielder before moving into coaching. He took charge of a number of Portuguese clubs and was given the Benfica job in June 2009 after leading SC Braga to the last 16 of the 2008/09 UEFA Cup. He guided the Eagles to the title in his first campaign and to the final of last season's UEFA Europa League.

• Tottenham dismissed manager André Villas-Boas after the end of the group stage. The club's former midfielder Tim Sherwood stepped up to take temporary charge, later accepting an 18-month contract to lead the north London side until 2015. A Premier League winner with Blackburn in 1994/95, the three-times capped England midfielder had been on Spurs' coaching staff since 2008.

Shoot-out record
• Benfica's record in UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L1:
4-1 (home) v PAOK, 1999/2000 UEFA Cup second round
5-6 (neutral) v PSV Eindhoven, 1987/88 European Champion Clubs' Cup final

• Spurs' record in UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L2:
1-4 (away) v FC Basel 1893, 2012/13 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals
5-6 (away) v PSV Eindhoven, 2006/07 UEFA Cup round of 16
4-3 (home) v RSC Anderlecht, 1983/84 UEFA Cup final second leg