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Benfica crushed Hearts 6-1 on Thursday in the first leg of the Europa League third qualifying round, putting themselves in a highly comfortable position ahead of the decisive return match in Edinburgh on August 13.

Marco Silva’s team started at full throttle and took the lead after just three minutes. Rafa Silva connected perfectly with a cutback from Leandro Barreiro to put Benfica in front at the Estádio da Luz.

Benfica continued to display strong attacking intent and doubled their advantage in the 23rd minute. From a corner delivered by Georgiy Sudakov, captain Tomás Araújo rose highest and headed beyond Beau Reus. Hearts attempted to hit back, and Laurent Mendy struck the crossbar after Samuel Soares misjudged his run off the line.

Before half-time, the Eagles were awarded a penalty after Gianluca Prestianni was fouled. In the 42nd minute, Vangelis Pavlidis converted from the spot to make it 3-0, netting his fifth goal in two matches, and that remained the score at the end of the first 45 minutes.

After the break, the Glorioso adopted a more measured rhythm but continued to threaten the Jambos’ goal. In the 59th minute, Prestianni won possession on the edge of the area and curled in to make it 4-0. With Richard Ríos, Andreas Schjelderup and Jhon Durán already introduced, the Scottish side reduced the deficit in the 71st minute. Tom Reanud, from the right side of the box, sent a low shot across goal to score Hearts’ consolation.

But Benfica were not finished. During a quick attacking transition, Jhon Durán marked his Benfica debut with a goal to make it 5-1. Right at the end, Schjelderup added Benfica’s sixth from the penalty spot. The second leg will be played next Thursday, August 13, at 7:45 pm, at Tynecastle Park. The winner of the tie will face the loser of the meeting between Denmark’s AGF Aarhus and Azerbaijan’s Sabah FK in the play-off.