With a Champions League last-16 tie against either Barcelona or Liverpool on the line, Benfica and Monaco reconvene for the second leg of their playoff battle on Tuesday night at the Estadio da Luz.
The Portuguese powerhouses left the Stade Louis II with a 1-0 triumph to their name from last week's first leg and now reunite with opponents hit with several suspension-related shortages.
Match preview
© Imago
Finding the back of the net for the sixth time in the 2024-25 Champions League, Benfica's glistening Greek centre-forward Vangelis Pavlidis chipped the ball over Monaco's Radoslaw Majecki with exemplary composure to settle a tightly-contested first leg in the Principality.
Bruno Lage's men were also aided by the foolishness of Monaco midfielder Al-Musrati, who while on a booking got himself sent off for waving an imaginary yellow card to the referee, and the Portuguese giants could hardly be in a better place continentally or domestically on current form.
The slender beating of Monaco marked the fourth win of a five-match victorious sequence for Benfica in all tournaments, as Lage also oversaw a 1-0 Primeira Liga triumph over Santa Clara on Saturday courtesy of a solitary Bruma goal, but Sporting Lisbon remain the team to beat at the top of the table.
Nevertheless, the Eagles remain within touching distance of the league leaders and are now on the hunt for six straight wins for the first time since January 2024, an effort that will ostensibly be helped by their recent penchant for goal-laden performances at home.
Indeed, Lage's men have scored at least three times in each of their last four matches at the Estadio da Luz in all tournaments, although one of those contests also saw them ship five to Barcelona in a nine-goal UCL spectacular, meaning that they have won just one of their last eight home games in the competition.
© Imago
Benfica's home woes in the Champions League may pale into insignificance thanks to Monaco's horrendous away form over the winter period, as Adi Hutter's men have lost each of their last four on the road and have only won one of their last 10 on their travels.
Even that success was against lowly Union Saint-Jean in the Coupe de France, and Les Monegasques are now at risk of going three successive away games in the Champions League without a goal since 2014, where the third game in that streak was a 1-0 loss to none other than Benfica.
However, Monaco polished off their best shooting boots on Saturday evening, when Nantes visited the Stade Louis II in Ligue 1 and left having been slaughtered 7-1; Hutter's men actually fell behind in the fourth minute before wreaking havoc on Les Canaris after their visitors went down to 10.
January signing Mika Biereth stole the spotlight with a terrific treble, his second hat-trick since arriving from Austrian outfit Sturm Graz; a penny for the thoughts of a striker-starved Arsenal, who let the red-hot Scandinavian leave their academy ranks last year.
Biereth's predatory instincts will be required if Monaco are to buck a terrible trend against Benfica; if the Ligue 1 side cannot turn the tie around in Portugal, they would have faced the Eagles five times in Europe without ever winning, more than any other team.
Team News
© Imago
While Monaco lost holding midfielder Al-Musrati to a red card during the first leg, Benfica will now be deprived of their own number six, as Florentino is banned for Tuesday's game on account of picking up three Champions League yellow cards.
To make matters worse, both Angel Di Maria and Tomas Araujo suffered injuries in the first leg - the former came on for the stricken Araujo before having to be substituted himself with a muscular issue - and Di Maria was not seen in training on Monday.
The ex-Real Madrid man could join Alexander Bah (ACL), Fredrik Aursnes (knee), Manu Silva (ACL) and Renato Sanches (muscle) in the Benfica medical bay, and the hosts also cannot call on goalscorer Bruma, who is serving a continental ban carried over from when he was sent off in a Europa League game for Braga against Union SG last month.
Meanwhile, Al-Musrati's nonsensical sending-off in the first leg of course carries a one-game ban, and Hutter will also be ruing the absences of Denis Zakaria and Vanderson, both of whom picked up milestone yellow cards last Wednesday.
On a brighter discipline-related note, Christian Mawissa is back from the ban he served in last week's defeat, but Aleksandr Golovin has since picked up an adductor injury and misses out alongside Jordan Teze (unspecified), Soungoutou Magassa (facial) and Folarin Balogun (shoulder).
With both Vanderson and Teze unavailable, the fit-again Wilfried Singo or Thilo Kehrer should start at right-back on Tuesday night, where Takumi Minamino may have also played his way into a start after registering a goal and two assists in the destruction of Nantes.
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Santos, Otamendi, Silva, Carreras; Amdouni, Kokcu, Barreiro, Akturkoglu; Pavlidis, Cabral
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Majecki; Kehrer, Salisu, Mawissa, Henrique; Camara, Coulibaly; Akliouche, Ben Seghir, Minamino; Biereth
We say: Benfica 2-2 Monaco (Benfica win 3-2 on aggregate)
All-out attack must be the formula for Monaco if they are to keep their Champions League dream alive, and the Biereth-inspired visitors should sense an opportunity against their depleted hosts.
However, Hutter has also been left incredibly short in midfield for the second leg, and Benfica should therefore be able to fight fire with fire and progress after an end-to-end battle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
