PAOK 2-1 Benfica - Benfica OUT of the Champions League

Benfica suffer a shock defeat in Greece at the hands of PAOK, which sees the Lisbon club drop into the Europa League group stage - and fail to qualify for the Champions League - for the first time in 11 years.

In what proved to be a disastrous night, Benfica ended up losing 2-1 in Jorge Jesus’ first competitive match in charge, with PAOK, managed by fellow Portuguese Abel Ferreira, clinical in front of goal and worthy winners on the night.

Enthusiasm and expectation has been very high at Benfica throughout the summer and the buildup to the new campaign, having spent huge sums of money in their attempts to reclaim the Portuguese league title and become a force to fear on the continental stage.

The likes of Everton Cebolinha, Jan Vertonghen, Pedrinho, Darwin Nunez and Luca Waldschmidt all arrived at a new-look Benfica, who had the ambition to turn their fortunes around - but a miserable evening in Greece has handed Benfica a gargantuan setback, both financially and in terms of reputation.

Benfica went into the match as clear favourites despite their opponents having the home advantage, but after a wasteful first half which finished 0-0, PAOK grew into the game, and pulled in front on the hour mark thanks to a Jan Vertonghen own goal.

There was further disaster for Benfica soon after - not only due to the fact that PAOK doubled their advantage, but also because of the goalscorer - Andrija Zivkovic. Benfica released Zivkovic on a free transfer only a couple of weeks ago, allowing him to join PAOK for free in the build-up to their Champions League match - and it was written in the stars that the Serbian winger would get on the scoresheet off the bench. And he did not let his new club down.

A 2-0 deficit with only 15 minutes remaining looked too much for a Benfica side who were, for the vast majority of the night, limited to just half chances, with PAOK’s resilient defence at times almost impenetrable despite all the flair and quality Benfica supposedly had on the pitch. And it proved to be the case, a 94th minute header from Rafa Silva nothing more than a consolation for the Portuguese visitors.

What does this mean for Benfica?

Ultimately, Benfica will begin their European adventure in the Europa League group stage for the first time since the 2009-10 season - Jorge Jesus’ first season in charge in his first spell at Benfica. They went on to reach the quarter finals on that occasion, knocked out by Liverpool in the final eight.

They will not need to qualify for the group stage of Europe’s secondary competition, avoiding any qualifying rounds by dropping directly into the competition proper, and will be one of the pot 1 sides for the competition. But it is still a borderline humiliation for the club, who had such significant aspirations to impress on the continent’s biggest stage this campaign.

It is also a massive blow for Benfica financially, missing out on tens of millions of euros as a result of their inability to crack into the Champions League group stage - and it will almost surely mean that Benfica will have to sell a couple of star players to help balance the books.

Carlos Vinicius is one that has always been expected to leave, with Benfica hoping to receive 60 million euros for the Brazilian striker - but after today’s result, they will almost certainly have to settle for a significantly lower fee, with 40 million euros perhaps the most they will be able to get.

Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur are one of the teams that are most interested in the 25-year old forward - but were unwilling to surpass 30 million euros. Perhaps now Benfica will be forced to accept the proposal put forward by the London club.

Ruben Dias, the Portugal international and one of the most well sought-after defenders in world football, could also be one that is now available for transfer. Benfica have been adamant that they will accept no less than a bid corresponding to his release clause - 100 million euros - but after their premature exit from the Champions League, they may well now have a change of heart.

Ultimately, it is a disastrous result for a Benfica side that had put so much of their financial resources into this match - and their stock on the European stage has taken a massive hit.

Perhaps there was a complacency about how Benfica approached the game. Perhaps it was unfair that Benfica, the seeded side, had to play away to PAOK in such a massive one-off game. Or, perhaps not even Jesus can save Benfica.