Arsenal v Benfica live stream, BT Sport, Thursday 25 February, 5.55pm GMT
Arsenal and Benfica will travel to Athens for the second leg of their Europa League last-32 match-up on Thursday.
The tie is finely balanced following a 1-1 draw in Rome last week. Benfica took the lead through Pizzi from the penalty spot in the 55th minute, but Arsenal hit back almost immediately through Bukayo Saka to level the scores.
Home advantage has gone out of the window in this tie with both legs held at neutral venues, but Thursday’s game counts as Arsenal’s home leg and that could be significant if away goals come into the equation. Indeed, a 2-2 or 3-3 draw would send Benfica through, since Mikel Arteta’s side only managed to find the back of the net once last time out.
Arsenal warmed up for this match with a 1-0 defeat by Manchester City on Sunday. Raheem Sterling’s header put Pep Guardiola’s side ahead early on, and the Gunners were unable to find a response in the remaining 88 minutes. The game almost petered out after City’s spell of dominance in the first quarter, and it seemed at times as if Arsenal already had an eye on Thursday’s clash in the Greek capital.
A disappointing defeat by PAOK in the third qualifying round of the Champions League sent Benfica into the continent’s secondary club competition. Jorge Jesus’ side qualified for the last 32 as the unbeaten runners-up in a group topped by Rangers, who amassed two more points than the Portuguese giants.
By the club’s high standards, this has been a disappointing season for Benfica so far. A run of one win in seven games has left Jesus’ side fourth in the Primeira Liga standings, with table-topping Sporting CP now 15 points in advance of their crosstown rivals. As such, Benfica may well have made the Europa League their priority this term.
Kick-off is at 5.55pm GMT and the game is being shown on BT Sport 1 in the UK. See below for watching details where you are.
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Use a VPN to watch an Arsenal v Benfica live stream from outside your country
If you’re on holiday or just simply out of the country, your domestic on-demand services won’t work – the broadcaster knows exactly where you are from your IP address. Your access to the game will be automatically blocked, which is annoying if you’ve paid a subscription fee and don't want to use an illegal, buffering stream that makes you miss another Jose Mourinho tantrum. And that's where we recommend ExpressVPN (more on which below).
All you need to do is get a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to get beyond such aggravations (assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs). A VPN creates a private connection between your device and the internet, meaning suppliers can’t work out where you are and what you’re doing. The info going to and from is entirely encrypted.
There are plenty of options out there, including:
