While the four Premier League clubs in the Champions League draw all have reason to be pleased with the outcome, Benfica and Astana will look at it with dread.
The Champions of Portugal and Kazakhstan are separated by nearly 4,000 miles as the crow flies – to put that into context, Dublin and New York are just 3,180 miles apart.
That means an 11-hour flight. While if you’re planning on travelling by car, our advice is…just don’t.
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It’s Astana’s first time in the Champions League group stage, following their victory over APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus in the play-off round, and their easterly location means they’ll be doing a lot of travelling.
Their other away games are against Atletico Madrid (3,537 miles) and Galatasaray (2,119 miles), bringing the total to 10,000 miles – and that’s assuming they get knocked out in the group stage.
Gamblers might want to stick a few quid on whoever travels to Astana losing their next away match.
