Benfica seeks to seal this Tuesday at La Luz, in Lisbon, the qualification for the quarterfinals of the soccer Champions League, which it can even achieve with a defeat by the smallest margin against Club Brugge.
After the 2-0 victory in Belgium, sealed with goals from João Mário, from the penalty spot, and David Neres, the ‘incarnated’ are headed towards a sixth appearance in the ‘quarter-finals’ in the ‘Champions era’, repeating 1994 / 95, 2005/06, 2011/12, 2015/16 and 2021/22.
Against a team that is making its debut at this point in the competition, the formation led by Roger Schmidt seems to be the clear favorite for qualifying, even taking into account that, in the group stage, the Belgians thrashed Dragão 4-0.
Club Brugge is, however, far from the good performances at the start of the season, with just two wins in the 13 games it played after the 2022 World Cup, while Benfica comes to this match after four consecutive wins.
The ‘incarnated’, who surpassed four (2005/06, 2011/12, 2015/16 and 2021/22) of five appearances in the ‘eighth’, falling only in 2016/17, against Borussia Dortmund, are also undefeated in the reception to the Belgians and in the current number of ‘Champions’.
At home against teams from Belgium, Benfica has eight victories and two draws, although one of them was ‘painful’, the 1-1 against Anderlecht, in the second leg of the 1982/83 UEFA Cup final, that prevented him from winning the trophy after the 1-0 defeat in Brussels.
Regarding this edition of the Champions League, the balance of Schmidt’s ’11’ is nine wins and two draws, standing out for the two wins over Juventus (2-1 away and 4-3 at home) and the two equal to one with Paris. Saint Germain.
As they did not lose the last game of last season either (3-3 against Liverpool, at Anfield Road), Benfica has a streak of 12 games without losing and could surpass the national record of FC Porto (2003/04 and 2004/05 ), which he matched in Bruges.
For the second leg of the ‘eighth’, Bah, Chiquinho and Gonçalo Guedes are fit, according to Roger Schmidt, while Otamendi, Florentino, João Mário and Gonçalo Ramos cannot see the yellow at Luz if they want to play the first leg of the ‘ fourth ‘, phase with draw scheduled for March 17.
The match between Benfica and Club Brugge, in the second leg of the round of 16 of the 2022/23 edition of the football Champions League, will take place on Tuesday, at 8:00 p.m., at the Estádio da Luz, in Lisbon, with arbitration by the Turkish Halil Umut Meler.
Source: TSF
