UEFA Europa League PREVIEW 13 Aug 2026: Hearts host Benfica 6-1 down, Rangers host Jagiellonia trailing 2-1

Hearts host Benfica on Thursday at 7.45pm needing to overturn a 6-1 defeat: Benfica won the first leg at home on 6 August, Rafa Silva scoring at 3', Tomas Araujo at 23', Vangelis Pavlidis from the penalty spot at 42', Gianluca Prestianni at 59', Jhon Duran at 87' and Andreas Schjelderup from a second penalty at 90', with Tom Renaud replying for Hearts at 72'. It is the second leg of a UEFA Europa League third qualifying round tie Hearts are in having gone out of the Champions League to Sturm Graz, beaten 4-0 away on 21 July and 2-0 at home on 28 July. They arrive in better domestic form than that suggests, having beaten Dundee United 4-0 at home on Sunday.

Rangers, meanwhile, host Jagiellonia at 7.30pm for the second leg of their own third qualifying round tie, having lost the away leg 2-1 on 6 August. That first leg produced two own goals: one off Guilherme Montoia put Rangers ahead at 4', one off Emmanuel Fernandez levelled it for Jagiellonia at 13', and Kajetan Szmyt scored the winner at 21'. Rangers come into the return having lost 1-2 at home to Hibernian on Sunday. Losing the first leg by a single goal still leaves this tie far more open than Hearts'.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Besiktas host Hradec Kralove, Gornik Zabrze face Ferencvaros, Omonia entertain Lincoln Red Imps, Pafos take on Salzburg and Univ. Craiova play KuPS, all at 6pm UK time. Klaksvik host Lech Poznan and Vikingur Reykjavik face Thun at 6.30pm, CSKA Sofia meet Maccabi Tel Aviv at 7pm, and Anderlecht host PAOK at 7.30pm, the same slot as Rangers. Egnatia's home game with Shamrock Rovers kicks off at 8pm.