Hope undiminished for Heerenveen

Benfica
The Lisbon club missed the chance to go top of the Portuguese SuperLiga with a surprise 4-1 defeat at CF Os Belenenses. They were 3-0 down by half-time, and went further behind before Tomo Šokota scored a consolation goal on 74 minutes. Giovanni Trapattoni was without the injured Luisão, Ricardo Rocha, Nuno Gomes and Miguel, but Petit and Carlitos returned to action after spells in the treatment room.

Stuttgart
Saturday's 2-2 draw at FC Bayern München left Stuttgart third in the Bundesliga. Coach Matthias Sammer replaced the injured Zvonimir Soldo and Fernando Meira with Mathieu Delpierre and Christian Tiffert, with Delpierre playing as part of a back three with Markus Babbel and Martin Stranzl. Silvio Meissner and Kevin Kuranyi gave Stuttgart a 2-0 lead with 25 minutes remaining but Bayern fought back for a draw. Soldo will miss Wednesday's home match against Dinamo Zagreb with a thigh problem; goalkeeper Dirk Heinen is still out with a torn muscle, joining Marco Streller and Hakan Yakin on the sidelines; and defender Steffen Dangelmayr has sustained a knee ligament injury in training.

Dinamo Zagreb
Needing a win in Stuttgart to be sure of a place in the UEFA Cup last 32, Dinamo's confidence took a blow at the weekend with a 1-0 defeat at HNK Hajduk Split in their final game of Croatia's autumn campaign. Seventh in the table, the club remain in crisis at home, with chairman Mirko Barisic promising wholesale changes in the winter break. The first will see coach Ilija Loncarevic take up a dual role as director of sport, replacing Otto Baric who resigned last month. Having drawn 2-2 at home to Heerenveen on Matchday 4, Dinamo know they missed a great chance to qualify and morale will need a lift if they are to prevail in Germany.

Heerenveen
The Dutch team warmed up for their all-important game against KSK Beveren with a 1-0 home success in the north Netherlands derby against FC Groningen. Finnish defender Mika Väyrynen scored the second-half winner. Väyrynen's countryman Hannu Haarala was suspended while midfielder Arek Radomski and top scorer Klaas Jan Huntelaar, who have minor hamstring and groin injuries, were rested. Both, however, should be fit for Beveren's visit. Goalkeeper Boy Waterman is out until the new year with knee trouble.

Beveren
Still pointless in Group G and with no chance of progress, Beveren nonetheless enjoyed a fine weekend with Moussa Sanogo's hat-trick helping them to a 4-1 home win against Belgian First Division opponents KVC Westerlo. Second-choice goalkeeper Marc Volders is unavailable for this week's game against Heerenveen with a calf injury, while defender Abdoulaye Diawara is not expected to recover from breaking his ankle and tearing ligaments for another three months.