The deciding goal came when Benfica's Richard Rios diverted into his own net on 18 minutes following some good play by Pedro Neto and then Alejandro Garnacho.

The Blues were relatively comfortable for much of the contest after Robert Sanchez's early save to deny Dodi Lukebakio, although there was late disappointment as Joao Pedro saw red for a second yellow card.

Five changes

Enzo Maresca made five alterations to his line-up, as Reece James, Jorrel Hato, Andrey Santos, Estevao and Joao Pedro dropped out of the side, with Malo Gusto, Benoit Badiashile, Facundo Buonanotte, Garnacho and Tyrique George starting.

The back four and midfield duo were as expected, with Academy graduate George leading the line, Buonanotte playing in the number ten role and Garnacho off the left.

Chelsea started brightly, as Enzo Fernandez flashed a shot wide inside the opening three minutes, but Benfica quickly showed they too carried a threat, as Sanchez was forced to direct a shot from Lukebakio on to the near post and out for a corner.

Garnacho was next to go close, as he dragged a shot from inside the penalty area wide, but the game was end-to-end in the opening stages, as a wayward pass from the Blues allowed Georgiy Sudakov into the area to have a tame effort saved.

But an excellent couple of minutes from Pedro Neto saw the Portuguese light up the Bridge. First, he drove inside from the right touchline and flashed a powerful low shot narrowly wide of the far post from 20 yards out, which had the fans off their seats.

Opening goal

And then it was his inswinging cross a minute later which was to create the opening goal, as he picked out Garnacho at the far post and the summer signing's volleyed pass across the six-yard box was diverted into his own goal by Richard Rios.

Clear-cut chances became harder to come by as the half wore on and it wasn't until the 42nd minute that Chelsea next went close, as Badiashile headed a Neto free-kick over the bar from eight yards out.

The Blues went close once more before the break as George managed to stab a shot goalwards under pressure but Anatoliy Trubin was able to make a routine save and we had to settle for 1-0 at the interval.

Benfica forced Sanchez into a couple of stops early into the second period but on both occasions the offside flag was raised so a goal wouldn't have counted.

Chelsea then enjoyed a positive spell, as a counter ended with Garnacho shooting over the bar from distance and Neto drove inwards beating several defenders before having a shot blocked.

Estevao, Jamie Gittens and Joao Pedro were all introduced early into the second half as the Blues went in search of the second goal.

Neto continued to offer a threat on the right and another dangerous inswinging cross had to be headed away from the arriving pack at the far post.

Estevao, who showed some bright moments after his arrival, saw a header from Enzo Fernandez's cross saved but it was Benfica who applied the late pressure.

Chelsea were relatively comfortable though as the game drew towards a close, although there was disappointment in the final moments as Joao Pedro's high boot led to a second yellow card and he was dismissed.

What it means

After two games, Chelsea are currently in 17th place in the Champions League standings, which is one of the unseeded play-off positions. There are six more games to go, with the top eight progressing straight into the round of 16.

What's next

Next up for the Blues is Saturday's home game with Premier League leaders Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, which kicks off at 5.30pm BST and will be shown on Sky Sports in the UK.

Our next Champions League match will also be at the Bridge against Ajax on Wednesday 22 October.

The teams

Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto (James 80), Chalobah, Badiashile (Acheampong 80), Cucurella; Caicedo, Enzo (c); Neto, Buonanotte (Estevao 54), Garnacho (Gittens 61); George (Joao Pedro 61)
Subs not used: Jorgensen, Merrick, Hato, Lavia, Walsh, Guiu
Scorers: Rios (og) 18
Bookings: Enzo 45+1, Buonanotte 46, Joao Pedro 62 90+6, Neto 88
Red card: Joao Pedro 90+6

Benfica: Trubin; Dedic, Otamendi (c), António Silva (T.Araujo 73), Dahl; Barrenechea, Richard Ríos (Barreiro 77); Lukebakio (Schjelderup 77), Aursnes (H. Araujo 90), Sudakov (Ivanovic 77); Pavlidis
Subs not used: Ferreira, Soares, Obrador, Oliveira, Prioste, Rego, Veloso
Bookings: Barrenechea 34, Rios 49, Aursnes 63, Otamendi 83, T.Araujo 88

Referee: Daniel Siebert
Attendance: 38,636