Benfica v Newcastle United: Is the Eusebio Cup being broadcast live?

Newcastle United are in Portugal preparing for their biggest challenge in pre-season as they face former Europa League opponents Benfica.

The trip to Portugal represents the Magpies second training camp on the continent after Eddie Howe’s side faced German sides 1860 Munich and Mainz during a visit to Austria last week.

Their meeting with the Eagles will see United facing a side that will compete in the Champions League group stages this season if they come through a third qualifying round tie against either Danish side Midtjylland or Cypriot outfit AEK Larnaca.

NewcastleWorld takes a look at the latest ahead of the Magpies reunion with the Portuguese giants.

Where and when will the game take place?

The two sides will compete for the Eusebio Cup at Benfica’s Estadio da Luz on Tuesday, July 26 and kick-off will be at 8pm local and British time.

The historic stadium holds over 65,000 supporters and is rightly viewed as one of European football’s most iconic homes of football.

What happened the last time the two sides met?

Newcastle’s last visit to Benfica came in the quarter-final of the Europa League in April 2013.

Alan Pardew’s Magpies made the perfect start as Papiss Cisse fired them in front with just 12 minutes on the clock but it was the Portuguese side that claimed a 3-1 win thanks to goals from Rodrigo Moreno, Lima and Oscar Cardozo.

The return leg took place at St James Park seven days later and another Cisse strike gave United some hope of overturning their first-leg deficit.

Newcastle piled forward in the closing-stages looking for a goal that would have secured a place in the semi-final but were hit on the break as Salvio struck an injury-time effort to send Benfica into the last four.

Which other clubs have competed for the Eusebio Cup?

First held in 2008 when an Inter Milan side containing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli claimed a penalty shoot-out win over Benfica, the Eusebio Cup has seen some of Europe’s biggest clubs take part in the time that has passed.

The only English winners were Tottenham Hotspur in 2010, although Arsenal did suffer a 2-1 defeat against Benfica in the 2011 edition of the cup.

The likes of Ajax, Real Madrid and AC Milan have all competed for the cup in the recent past.

Who could feature for Newcastle?

A total of 32 players made the trip to Portugal and Eddie Howe chose to use 24 of them in a unique ‘training session’ with former Premier League rivals Burnley on Saturday afternoon.

All of the Magpies first-team squad are undergoing final preparations for the game and youngsters Kelland Watts, Alex Murphy, Jay Turner-Cooke, Santiago Munoz and Matty Bondswell are also in Portugal.

The likes of Martin Dubravka, Fabian Schar and Chris Wood did not feature against the Clarets.

Will the game be broadcast on television?

There are no confirmed broadcasts planned of the game in the UK but Benfica TV have broadcast previous editions of the Eusebio Cup.

More information on the subscription based service can be found here - although there is no confirmation the game will be shown on there.