Manchester United out to make progress at Benfica's expense

Manchester United FC made it three Group A wins out of three at SL Benfica on matchday three and could wrap up a place in the round of 16 when the teams reconvene at Old Trafford.

• Marcus Rashford scored the only goal in Lisbon, giving United a nine-point cushion over their opponents and keeping José Mourinho's team three points clear at the top of the section.

• United will qualify if they win and PFC CSKA Moskva fail to beat second-placed FC Basel 1893 in the other matchday four game, or if United draw and CSKA lose.

• Bottom side Benfica, who have lost all three matches, will be unable to finish in the top two if they lose and Basel avoid defeat, or if Benfica draw and Basel win.

Previous meetings
• United have now prevailed in seven of the clubs' ten encounters, starting with a quarter-final triumph in the 1965/66 European Champion Clubs' Cup and continuing with their 1967/68 final success at Wembley as the English side captured the trophy for the first time.

• Benfica's sole win came when a team including Luisão beat United 2-1 in Lisbon in December 2005, eliminating Sir Alex Ferguson's men at the group stage for the first time since 1994.

• United avenged that defeat when Louis Saha clinched a 1-0 win in Lisbon in September 2006. They subsequently came from behind to beat Benfica 3-1 back at Old Trafford and consign their opponents to an early exit.

• The sides were also paired in the 2011/12 group stage, drawing 1-1 in Lisbon with Ryan Giggs (42) cancelling out Óscar Cardozo's 24th-minute opener for Benfica.

• It was also all-square in their most recent fixture in Manchester, a Phil Jones own goal and Pablo Aimar giving Benfica a 2-2 matchday five draw at Old Trafford on 22 November 2011. United's goals came from Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Fletcher.

• The line-ups at Old Trafford on 22 November 2011 were:
United: De Gea, Fábio (Smalling 82), Jones, Ferdinand, Evra, Valencia (Hernández 80), Carrick, Fletcher, Young, Nani, Berbatov.
Benfica: Artur, Emerson, Luisão (Miguel Vítor 58), Garay, Maxi Pereira, Witsel, Javi García, Bruno César, Aimar (Rúben Amorim 83), Gaitán (Matić 68), Rodrigo.

• Benfica, then coached by Jorge Jesus, came first in Group C in 2011/12; United finished third, behind FC Basel 1893.

Match background

Manchester United
• United are unbeaten in their 12 games at home to Portuguese visitors (W9 D3). The most recent encounter was a 3-2 victory over SC Braga in the 2012/13 group stage.

• United were 4-1 winners at CSKA Moskva on matchday two, having overcome Basel 3-0 at Old Trafford in their first Group A fixture.

• The Red Devils are unbeaten in 19 European home matches (W15 D4), going back to a 2-1 home loss to Real Madrid CF in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg. The 1-1 draw with RC Celta de Vigo in last season's UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg (2-1 aggregate) halted a six-game winning home run.

• This is United's fifth European fixture this term, which started with the 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup in Skopje on 8 August. That ended United's 11-match unbeaten streak (W8 D3) since a 2-1 reversal at Fenerbahçe SK on matchday four of last season's UEFA Europa League. The defeat in Istanbul had been their fifth in nine European games.

• The Madrid loss is United's only reverse in their last 15 European matches, home and away (W11 D3).

• This is United's 21st campaign in the UEFA Champions League group stage, and only four times have they failed to make the next round. Two of those eliminations came in their last four participations; the English club finished third in their section in both 2011/12 and 2015/16, their last appearance.

• United completed a clean sweep of European trophies with victory in last season's UEFA Europa League. The win against AFC Ajax in Stockholm added to their European Cup triumphs of 1968, 1999 and 2008 and their 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup success.

Benfica
• The Eagles suffered their biggest UEFA Champions League defeat in going down 5-0 at Basel on matchday two.

• Benfica have played 35 games against English clubs in UEFA competition; their record is W11 D6 L18 (W4 D2 L10 in England). In addition to their 1968 European Cup final defeat by United, they also lost the 2013 UEFA Europa League final in Amsterdam, 2-1 to Chelsea FC.

• The Eagles' last trip to England was a 3-1 win away to Tottenham Hotspur FC in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg, setting up a 5-3 aggregate triumph.

• Portuguese double winners in 2016/17, Benfica are in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the 13th time – and the eighth season running.

• The Lisbon outfit got to the quarter-finals in 2015/16 and again progressed from the group stage last year, losing 4-1 on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16.

• Beaten 2-1 at home by PFC CSKA Moskva on matchday one, Benfica have won only one of their last seven European matches, home and away – the 1-0 victory against Dortmund in last season's round of 16 first leg – and have lost the last four.

• The matchday three defeat was the first time Benfica have lost four successive European games; they had suffered three straight defeats on four previous occasions.

• Having gone down 4-0 in Dortmund in last spring's last 16, Benfica have won only three of their last 14 away fixtures in Europe, losing seven. They picked up four points on their travels in last season's group stage.

Coach and player links
• Mourinho started his coaching career at Benfica in September 2000, but lasted little more than two months in charge. In the next three seasons, with UD Leiria and FC Porto, he faced the Eagles seven times (W4 D2 L1). His sole defeat came in the 2003/04 Portuguese Cup final.

• Victor Lindelöf joined United from Benfica this summer, having made 48 league appearances over five years with the Portuguese club.

• Nemanja Matić was at Benfica from 2011 to 2014, scoring seven goals in 56 league outings.

• Rui Vitória's UD Vilafranquense were beaten 4-0 away to Mourinho's Porto in the 2003/04 Portuguese Cup last 16.

• During his time with Sporting Clube de Portugal between 2012 and 2014, Marcos Rojo played five games against Benfica (D1 L4). In the 2013/14 Portuguese Liga, he scored the only goal in a triumph over a Vitória FC team managed by Rui Vitória.

• Luisão got the decisive goal in Benfica's 4-3 win over Sporting in the fourth round of the 2013/14 Portuguese Cup, a game in which Rojo was sent off.

• Zlatan Ibrahimović netted twice in Paris Saint-Germain's 3-0 win against Benfica in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Haris Seferovic was sent off in Switzerland's 2-1 friendly defeat by Belgium in May 2016, Romelu Lukaku scoring twice.

• Daley Blind scored past Júlio César as the Netherlands beat Brazil 3-0 in the third-place play-off at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

• Have played together:
Zlatan Ibrahimović & Júlio César (FC Internazionale Milano, 2006–09)
David De Gea & Eduardo Salvio (Club Atlético de Madrid, 2009/10)
Juan Mata & Jonas (Valencia CF, 2010/11)

• International team-mates:
Nemanja Matić & Ljubomir Fejsa, Andrija Živković (Serbia)
Marcos Rojo & Eduardo Salvio, Sergio Romero (Argentina)

• Mourinho was Júlio César's coach at Internazionale between 2008 and 2010, winning a treble including the UEFA Champions League in 2009/10.

Match facts

Manchester United
• United's 12-game unbeaten run ended when they lost 2-1 at Huddersfield Town FC on 21 October, their first defeat by the Terriers since 1952.

• Mourinho has never won a Premier League game when his side has fallen two goals behind (D1 L18).

• Mourinho's 400th game in English football ended in victory as League Cup holders United reached the quarter-finals by winning 2-0 at Swansea City AFC.

• Jesse Lingard claimed both goals at Swansea, the first time he has scored more than once in a game since his four-goal haul while on loan at Birmingham City FC against Sheffield Wednesday FC in September 2013.

• Mourinho's side have kept 11 clean sheets in their last 15 matches in all competitions.

• Romelu Lukaku has 16 goals in 18 outings for United and Belgium this season, though he has not scored in his last five games.

• The Red Devils have managed four goals in a game on six occasions this campaign.

• De Gea is on the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or. The winner will be announced on 6 December.

• Marouane Fellaini (knee) has not featured for United since the October international break while Paul Pogba (hamstring) and Michael Carrick (calf) have been missing since matchday one and 20 September respectively. Eric Bailly returned from a groin injury in Saturday's 1-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur FC.

• Marcos Rojo and Zlatan Ibrahimović have not played for United this season due to knee ligament injuries.

Benfica 
• André Almeida will complete a two-match ban while Luisão serves a one-match suspension after being sent off on matchday three.

• Mile Svilar, 18, became the youngest goalkeeper to play in the UEFA Champions League when he started against United on matchday three, breaking Iker Casillas's 18-year-old record.

• Rúben Dias and Diogo Gonçalves also made their European debuts on matchday three.

• The loss against the Red Devils ended a series of 50 home games in all competitions in which Benfica had scored.

• Benfica won 3-1 at CD Aves in the Portuguese Liga on 22 October with Jonas on target twice and Haris Seferović scoring again after seven games without a goal for club and country.

• An 11th-minute Jonas goal was sufficient for Benfica to edge past CD Feirense on Friday night, their third win in four league matches.

• Jonas has scored in eight consecutive Liga games, and has 12 league goals in ten games this season.