With little chance of renewing the league title, Benfica focused on their European campaign. In the first round, a 4-0 win against the violent Partizani Tirana saw UEFA expel the Albanians and void the second leg. Afterwards, they knocked-out Aarhus and Anderlecht, reaching the semi-finals with Steaua București, the winners of the 1985–86 European Cup. For the game with Steaua, Toni travelled to Glasgow and asked Graeme Souness for the videotapes of Rangers's games with them. He concluded the threat was Gheorghe Hagi and he needed to be annulled, a task that fell to Shéu, which he perform without mistakes.