Benfica will meet Inter Milan in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, as dictated the draw held in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday. The reds play the first leg at home. Coach Roger Schmidt will comment on the draw from 1 pm, during the launch conference of this Saturday’s match of the 25th round of the I Liga, with V. Guimarães.
Inter Milan, the executioner of FC Porto in the eighth finals, is currently second in the Italian league, 18 points behind leader Napoli. The team led by Simone Inzaghi has as its main stars the Argentinian Lautaro Martínez, Edin Dzeko, Lukaku and Nicolò Barella. Being a complicated opponent, Benfica theoretically had some luck in the draw, avoiding sharks like Real Madrid, Manchester City and even Napoli.
If they manage to eliminate Inter, Benfica will meet the winner of the draw between Italy’s AC Milan and Napoli in the semi-finals, with the first leg on May 9 or 10 and the second in Lisbon on May 16. or May 17.
Benfica and Inter Milan have only met three times in European competition. The first came in the 1965 European Cup final, which the Italians won 1-0. More recently, in 2004, they met in the UEFA Cup. In Luz there was a goalless draw and in Milan Inter won 4-3.
QUARTER-FINAL MATCHES
BENFICA – Inter Milan
Real Madrid vs Chelsea
Manchester City B. Munich
AC Milan-Naples
The club from Luz, to reach the quarter-finals, finished the group stage of the Champions in first place, ahead of PSG. And in the round of 16, they knocked out Club Brugge from Belgium with two wins – 0-2 away and 5-1 at Luz.
Benfica has already broken its record for earnings in UEFA awards with its participation in the Champions League this season. Qualifying for the quarter-finals netted a further €10.6 million, meaning the reds have secured €71.6 million this season in the league where they remain undefeated.
The first leg of the quarter-finals is scheduled for April 11/12 and the second for 18/19 of the same month, and, by draw, the pairing of the semi-finals, as well as the team that will play, have already been designated as hosts in the final , scheduled for June 10, at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.
Source: DN
