UEFA Champions League: Leandro Andrade scores as Qarabag stun Benfica

Azeri giants Qarabag FK and Cape Verde forward Leandro Andrade are not in the UEFA Champions League just to make up the numbers! Andrade pulled a goal back in the first half as Qarabag came back from a 0-2 deficit to stun heavy favorites Benfica in Lisbon by a 3-2 score.

It looked like a routine victory for hosts Benfica, who went up two goals inside sixteen minutes. However, the champions of the last four editions of Azerbaijan’s top flight persisted and pulled off an incredible comeback that will live on in the club’s history.

In the 30th minute, Benfica failed to clear a free kick service into their penalty area and Andrade arrived with a crashing drive to cut the deficit in half.

The momentum carried over into the second half. Colombian forward Camilo Duran leveled the match when he ran onto a through pass from Marko Jankovic and fired in a low shot off the post less than three minutes into the second half. The shock was completed late on when Oleksii Kashchuk combined with Abdellah Zoubir to finish in the penalty area in the 86th minute.

The upset victory saw Benfica players jeered after the final whistle but Qarabag are now a team to watch in the league phase of Europe’s elite club competition. They return to domestic league action for two matches before proceeding with their continental journey at home against Danish champions FC Copenhagen on October 1.

Andrade, who appeared earlier in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign for Cape Verde, may find his way back into the Blue Sharks squad. He has four goals in seven Champions League matches to go along with two assists.