Benfica will take on Club Brugge in Belgium on Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League’s round of 16 with the “quarter” in mind and with a historic goal to try to achieve: if they don’t lose, the Eagles will have their 12th consecutive game without defeats in the league (qualifying play-offs included) and equaling the best record of a Portuguese team – FC Porto had an equal number of games without losing between 2003 and 2004, in a story that coincided with the title of European champion with Mourinho.
Benfica’s unbeaten run began in 2021/22, in the second leg of the quarter-finals, with a three-goal draw for the team coached by Nélson Veríssimo at Liverpool. This season, the eagles won all four games in the qualifying play-offs (D. Kiev and Midtjylland) to finish Group H in first place, beating four other triumphs (Maccabi Haifa and Juventus) and two draws (PSG) . The Belgians of Club Brugge are now following.
Luz’s club has cause for optimism as the head-to-head confrontation with Belgian teams is in their favour, with 12 wins in 21 matches and four qualifications in six qualifiers, despite winning the most important game – the 1982 UEFA Cup Final -83 against Anderlecht.
Benfica also historically has a favorable record in knockout rounds giving entry to the quarter-finals in the Champions era (since 2003/04), as it managed to qualify in four of five appearances in the round of 16 , after beating Liverpool, Ajax and Zenit twice. The complete fails as they fell against Borussia Dortmund in 2016/17. There are four qualifications and one elimination in total, with 70% of wins (seven), plus one draw and two losses, in 10 encounters, with 14 goals and 10 conceded.
Financially, and if they beat Club Brugge, Benfica can pocket another €10.6 million, the UEFA prize for reaching the quarter-finals. So far, Roger Schmidt’s team has already pocketed 61 million (38.38 just for qualifying for the group stage), and if they manage to pass the Belgians, they will set the current record for the best turnover ever achieved in breaking the league, 64.903 million. of the last season.
The Champions League Round of 16 kicks off tonight with AC Milan-Tottenham and a hot PSG-Bayern Munich. With LUSA
Source: DN
