Benfica met on a neutral pitch with Arsenal in the first match of the 1/16 finals of the Europa League, where the Portuguese club footballers acted as nominal hosts.

After the goalless first half of the meeting, the teams exchanged goals scored in the second half, but ultimately they failed to identify the strongest.

The final whistle recorded a draw, so everything will be decided in the second leg.

Benfica - Arsenal 1: 1.

Goals: Pizzi, 55 (pen. ) - Saka, 57 Benfica: Elton Leite - Vertongen, Otamendi, Lucas, Grimaldo - Pizzi (Everton, 64), Taarabt (Gabriel, 77), Diogo Goncalves, Weigl - Nunez (Seferovic, 64), Waldschmidt (Rafa Silva, 46.

Arsenal: Leno - Bellerin, Gabriel, David Louise, Soares (Tierney, 64) - Jaca, Ceballos (Elneni, 90), Saka, Edegor (Willian, 90), Smith Row (Martinelli, 77) - Aubameyang (Pepe, 77.

In a parallel match, Antwerp hosted the Rangers.

The teams demonstrated effective football, and the Scottish club footballers emerged victorious from this scoring shootout thanks to the realized penalty in the last minutes.

Antwerp - Rangers 3: 4.

Goals: Avenatti, 45, Rafaelov, 45 (pen. ), Ongla, 66 - Aribo, 38, Barisic, 59 (pen. ), 90 (pen. ), Kent, 83.

Antwerp: Beyranvand (de Wolfe, 77), Lukaku, de Lat, Sec, Buta, Rafaelov, Boya (Verstrate, 69), Gerkens, Ongla, Le Marchand, Avenatti.

Rangers: McGregor, Helander, Barisic, Tavernier (Balogun, 24), Goldson, Arfield (Jack, 74), Davis, Camara (Hadji, 74), Aribo, Morelos, Ruf (Kent, 45).