After the 'Encarnados' qualified for the 2013/14 Europa League semi-finals, facing the Dutch from Az Alkmaar, on a day when FC Porto was eliminated from the same competition by the Spanish from Sevilla, Portugal has a decade of eliminations in the 'quarter-finals', out of a total of 11, without a single qualification. Benfica (four times), FC Porto (three) and Sporting and Sporting de Braga (both twice) were the teams that failed to reach the 'semi-finals', six times in the Champions League and five in the Europa League. The quality of the opponents -- Bayern Munich and Liverpool twice and Inter Milan, Juventus, Chelsea and Atlético de Madrid once -- largely explains the failure, but the Portuguese teams also failed to overcome the more accessible Eintracht Frankfurt, Rangers or Shakhtar Donetsk. In 2013/14, Benfica, led by Jorge Jesus, reached the Europa League semi-finals after a 'quarter-final' without history, in which they beat AZ Alkmaar twice, 1-0 in the Netherlands and 2-0 at the Luz. It is still the last Portuguese qualification in the 'quarter-finals'. In the following season (2014/15), FC Porto 'fell' with a great 'crash' from the 'Champions' in Germany, when they were thrashed 6-1 by Bayern Munich, after a promising and exciting 3-1 home win, with a 'brace' from Ricardo Quaresma. A year later, the Bavarians were, once again, 'executioners', now of Benfica, who lost in Munich by 1-0 and, at home, drew 2-2, in a game that they even led, with a goal from Mexican Raúl Jiménez that made the Luz 'tremble'. One day after the 'Encarnados' said 'goodbye' to the Champions League, Sporting de Braga said goodbye to the Europa League, when they were thrashed in Lviv by 4-0, after having already lost at home to Shakhtar Donetsk by 2-1. In 2017/18, it was Sporting's turn to reach the 'quarter-finals' of the Europa League and be eliminated by Atlético de Madrid, with a 2-0 defeat at the Wanda Metropolitano followed by an insufficient 1-0 victory at Alvalade, sealed by Colombian Fredy Montero. In the following edition of the same competition, Benfica had the 'semi-finals' at their mercy, in a first leg in which they could have achieved a historic win against Eintracht Frankfurt, but they were left with a 4-2, with a 'hat-trick' by João Félix, and then, they were eliminated in Germany (0-2), due to away goals. On the other hand, FC Porto reached the 'quarter-finals' of the 'Champions' and fell with a new 1-6, this time in the two games: they lost 2-0 at Anfield Road and 4-1 at the Dragão. Two years later, in 2020/21, the 'Dragons' once again played the 'quarter-finals' of the Champions League, in a strange tie 'pushed' by the covid-19 pandemic to Seville, where the 'Dragons' lost 2-0 in the first game and won the second 1-0, with a 'great goal' by Taremi, right at the end. In the last two seasons, Portugal has always attacked the 'quarter-finals' in double doses, but even so it was not successful, with Sporting de Braga still reaching extra time in the 2021/22 Europa League, facing Rangers, but losing in Scotland by 3-1, after the 1-0 home win. Benfica immediately compromised their qualification in the 'Champions' in the first leg, when they lost at the Luz by 3-1 to Liverpool, and then, they got an always 'nice' 3-3 at Anfield Road. In 2022/23, the 'Encarnados' once again mortgaged their qualification for the 'semi-finals' of the Champions League at the Luz, with a 0-2 against Inter Milan, of no use a new 3-3, at San Siro, while, in the Europa League, Sporting was not able to turn the game around at Alvalade (1-1), after the 1-0 defeat suffered at Juventus' stronghold. After all these eliminations, Benfica will try on Thursday to end the Portuguese 'bad luck', and they are already in advantage, after the 2-1 home win. Rafa, at the 16th minute, and Di María, at the 52nd, scored the goals for the 'Encarnados', while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang reduced, at the 67th. The match between Marseille and Benfica, the second leg of the quarter-finals of the 2023/24 edition of the Europa League in football, will take place on Thursday, starting at 9:00 pm local time (8:00 pm in Lisbon), at the Velódrome Stadium, in Marseille, France.