St. Gallen Claim First-Leg Win Over Benfica in Europa League Qualifier; Trubin and Sudakov Start

St. Gallen secured a 2-1 victory over Benfica in the first leg of their Europa League second qualifying round at the Kybunpark on Thursday. The Swiss side struck first in the 37th minute when Alio Balde finished calmly after a cross from the left. Benfica responded quickly — Rafa Silva leveled three minutes before halftime with a low drive from inside the box. The hosts regained the lead 10 minutes from time when Tom Gaal capitalized on a defensive lapse to slot home the winner. Ukrainian duo Anatoliy Trubin and Georgiy Sudakov both started for Benfica. Goalkeeper Trubin played the full 90 minutes, while midfielder Sudakov showed flashes of creativity but couldn't find the equalizer. The return leg is scheduled for Thursday, July 30, at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon (22:00 Kyiv time). The aggregate winner will face the loser of the Sturm Graz vs. Hearts tie (first leg 4-0) in the third qualifying round of the Europa League. The defeated side will drop into the Conference League third qualifying round, where they will meet the loser of Sheriff Tiraspol vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv (first leg 5-0). St. Gallen 2-1 Benfica Goals: Balde (37), Gaal (80) — R. Silva (44) Bookings: Gertler, Stanic, Gaal — Pavlidis