Nice fall to Benfica in UCL qualifier
In the first competitive match played by a Ligue 1 McDonald's side this season, OGC Nice lost 2-0 to SL Benfica at the Allianz Riviera in the first leg of their Champions League qualifying tie -- catch up on the match with our recap.
An even first half
Despite several injured players in defence, as well as the absence of Evann Guessand, who is expected to leave the club, manager Franck Haise lined his side up in his archetypal 3-4-3, handing first starts to summer arrivals Yehvann Diouf and Isak Jansson. From the off, Benfica were able to dominate play, despite Nice forcing a pair of corners early doors.
Also making his debut for the club was defender Juma Bah, and he looked preternaturally composed in a central role, doing well to keep Vangelis Pavlidis away from goal in the first quarter of an hour. Nice stayed resolute at the back, and had some decent chances on the counter, but unfortunately had to see Morgan Sanson forced off through injury midway through the half. Five minutes before the break, Benfica had their strongest chance, but a flying save from Diouf against Andreas Schjelderup kept the encounter level at the break.
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— OGC Nice 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@ogcnice_eng) August 6, 2025
Clinical Benfica make the hosts pay
In the second half, however, it wouldn't take long for the hosts to break that resistance, with Dante also having not returned after the intermission, with another debutant -- Kojo Perah Oppong -- on in the veteran's place. Eight minutes into the second half, it was a former Ligue 1 McDonald's player -- Amar Dedic -- who was the catalyst as Benfica opened the scoring, with Dedic turning Melvin Bard to pick out Franjo Ivanovic, who cleverly beat Diouf to give the visitors the lead.
Down a goal, Nice had little in the way of a response, and Diouf was again called upon just past the hour, keeping out Pavlidis. It would be another former Ligue 1 player, Florentino Luis, who would seal the result for Bruno Lage's side, as he took advantage of some slack pressing to score from range, making 2-0 the final score.
Speaking post-match, Haise was realistic about the result, saying "To beat an opponent like this, everything had to be line, to go perfectly. We showed a lot of good things, but unfortunately it wasn't enough." In order to overcome the deficit, his side will need to go to Lisbon and win by at least two goals next Tuesday, or drop into the Europa League, a competition that did them no favors last season.
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