Porto and Benfica are two big rivals. They are the two best teams in Portugal followed by Sporting Lisbon. Porto and Benfica are also used to being in the Champions League every year, but this time, the Dragons are out early.
Krasnodar upset the Portuguese outfit with a 2-3 win at the Do Dragao to qualify on away goals. A situation which directly affected Benfica, who needed Porto or Ajax to be eliminated to go from pot 3 to pot 2.
And they got their wish. The Russians defeated Porto and did Benfica a big favour. A situation which drastically improves Benfica's chances of getting out of the group stage.
Benfica are now guaranteed to avoid teams like Real Madrid, Atletico, Napoli, Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund, Ajax and Shakhtar Donetsk.