Chelsea vs. Benfica, Champions League: Confirmed lineups; how to watch

The chaaaaaaaaammpionnnnssssssss

Champions League nights (and José Mourinho, too) are back at the Bridge, after a two-year absence!

It feels good.

Remember that feeling in a couple hours, just in case we manage to shoot ourselves in the foot once again, as has been our habit for the past few weeks.

Enzo Maresca has cobbled together a (presumably) mostly fit lineup, which includes Caicedo but doesn’t include JP. Andrey Santos not even in the squad, with two goalkeepers on the bench. Meanwhile, it’s very much a B-team up top, with Ty George preferred ahead of Marc Guiu once again.

Here we go!

Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1):

Sánchez | Cucurella, Badiashile, Chalobah, Gusto | Enzo (c), Caicedo | Garnacho, Buonanotte, Neto | George

Substitutes from: Jorgensen, Merrick, James, Acheampong, Hato, Lavia, Walsh, Gittens, Estevao, Guiu, Joao Pedro

Benfica starting XI:

Trubin | A.Silva, Barrenechea, Aursnes, Sudakov, Lukebakio, Pavlidis, Dedic, Rios, Dahl, Otamendi (c)

Substitutes from: Soares, Ferreira, Obrador, Ivanovic, Barreiro, Schjelderup, H.Araujo, T.Araujo, Oliveira, Veloso, Rego, Prioste

Date / Time: Tuesday, September 30, 2025, 20.00 BST; 3pm EDT; 12:30am IST (next day)

Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6

Referee: Daniel Siebert (on pitch); Christian Dingert (VAR)

On TV: TNT Sports 1 (UK); TUDN, UniMás (USA); none? (India); SuperSport Football Plus (NGA); elsewhere

Streaming: discovery+ (UK); Paramount+, Univision NOW (USA); Sony LIV (India); DStv Now

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!

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