Benfica and Olympique de Marseille will play their quarter-final first leg this Thursday (9 p.m.) at Benfica. The travel ban had the gift of annoying the president of OM, Pablo Longoria.
“I cannot accept that our supporters, who have made enormous sacrifices to come to Portugal, cannot access the visitors' stand to attend a meeting that we are all looking forward to in this very difficult season,” he declared in a press release. It is therefore in response to this refusal that Benfique called on OM supporters not to travel to Portugal for tomorrow's match, while asking its own fans not toTravel to Marseille on the 18th april. The French authorities have not accepted the request of the Portuguese club, which calls into question the spirit of European competitions. The coach Roger Schmidt called for an agreement to allow supporters to attend the first leg in Portugal, and the return to France. The match will take place at the Estadio Mineirao in Lisbon.