Rangers will be looking to build on a fantastic start to the Europa League group stage when they take on Benfica on Thursday.
Steven Gerrard could hardly have asked for a better start to 2020/21, both at home and abroad. Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Kilmarnock extended Rangers’ unbeaten run in the Scottish Premiership to 13 games, 11 of which have ended in victory. No one around Ibrox will be getting carried away just yet, but Rangers do appear to have a decent chance of preventing Celtic winning a 10th league title in a row. The Gers are currently nine points clear at the top, although their arch-rivals have played two games fewer.
Things are also going well for Gerrard and co. on the continent. After battling through the qualifying rounds with wins against Lincoln Red Imps, Willem II and, most impressively of all, Galatasaray, Rangers have proceeded to take six points from six at the start of the group stage. Victories over Standard Liege and Lech Poznan have been achieved without so much as a single goal being conceded; Rangers have kept a mightily impressive 15 clean sheets already this term.
A trip to Benfica represents their toughest task yet, however. The Portuguese giants are among the favourites to win the Europa League, at least until eight teams join the competition from the Champions League. Indeed, Benfica have been more accustomed to participating in Europe’s foremost tournament in recent years. They too have taken maximum points from meetings with Standard Liege and Lech Poznan, and boast a 100 per cent record in Portugal’s top tier.
Rangers will be without long-term absentee Nikola Katic, who will not play again in 2020. Ryan Jack and Alfredo Morelos shook off knocks in time to feature against Kilmarnock and are likely to play at the Estadio da Luz too.
Kick-off is at 5.55pm BST and the game is being shown on BT Sport 3 in the UK. See below for watching details where you are.
Use a VPN to watch a Benfica v Rangers live stream from outside your country
We know, we know, this has crept up on you a bit. So what if you’ve organised a quick winter break and you’re out of the country for the first Champions League week of the season?
We can help. If you’re out of the country for this round of Champions League fixtures, then annoyingly your domestic on-demand services won’t work – the broadcaster knows where you are because of your IP address, and you’ll be blocked from watching.
But assistance is on hand. To get around that, all you have to do is get a Virtual Private Network (VPN), assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs. A VPN creates a private connection between your device and t'internet, meaning the service can’t work out where you are and won't automatically block the service you've paid for. All the info going between is entirely encrypted – and that's a result.
There are plenty of good-value options out there, including:
The recommended VPN of choice. FourFourTwo’s brainy pals TechRadar love ExpressVPN's lightning-quick connections, security you can trust, and the fact it works with Android, Apple, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, PS4 plus plenty more. It also comes with that money-back guarantee, has 24/7 support, is currently available for a 49% discount and with three months FREE. Grand.
Slightly more expensive but supports up to 10 devices, and you can pay up your hard-earned every three months if required.
How to watch the Champions League live for UK subscribers
The only broadcaster with rights for the Champions League in the UK this is BT Sport, which will show every single game from the group stage, knockout rounds and final.
BT Sport is available is free for new BT broadband and TV customers, £6 a month for existing customers and from £25 a month for current Sky TV customers. Subscribers can use the BT Sport app or BTSport.com to watch on their mobile or PC streaming service.
How to watch the Champions League live for US subscribers
Champions League coverage is split between Turner Sports for English-language broadcast – with the majority of games shown for Bleacher Report Live subscribers – and Univision for Spanish broadcasts.
Sort yourself out with a subscription, grab a VPN deal from further up the page, and watch Champions League football wherever you are.
How to watch the Champions League live for Canadian subscribers
The streaming platform DAZN has exclusive rights to the Champions League in Canada (and also shows the Premier League, the Championship, Europa League, Serie A, the EFL Cup, MLS and the J-League). They’re offering a one-month free trial, followed by a rolling $20-a-month or annual subscription of $150.
DAZN supports iOS and Android phones and tablets, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Chromecast, Apple TV and a gaggle of Smart TVs.
To keep up-to-date with what’s going on in the football world, scroll back up the page and get yourself VPN.
How to watch the Champions League live for Australian subscribers
Good news for fans of the round ball game Down Under, as Optus – who also show every single game of the Premier League season – have exclusive rights on the Champions League. There are various deals available for existing customers to add football to their package, but you can now get Optus Sport for just $14.99 a month for non-subscribers.
It’s available via the Fetch TV box, your Xbox console, or from compatible streaming devices such as phones or tablets supporting iOS and Google Play, plus Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Chromecast.
Check out our VPN advice to watch the game when you’re away from Australia.
How to watch the Champions League live for New Zealand subscribers
Sky Sport 7 beIN Sports is the catchily-named channel all football lovers in New Zealand will need this season.
As well the Champions League, it also shows the Spanish, German, Italian, Scottish and French leagues, as well as the Championship, FA Cup, EFL Cup and Copa Libertadores. Oh, and major international tournaments like the World Cup and next year’s European Championships too.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are the favourites with most bookies to win their first ever Champions League title, with Barcelona generally considered the likeliest team to overcome them. Reigning champions Liverpool are third favourites, just ahead of the next cluster which includes Real Madrid, Juventus, PSG, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Tottenham.
Who are the favourites for Champions League top scorer?
You will be shocked to learn that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are considered the two strong favourites to end the season as Champions League top scorer, with Juve’s Portuguese forward just pipping the Barca attacker to top spot.
Behind them comes Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and PSG’s Kylian Mbappe.
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