Benfica vs Real Madrid: Match preview, predicted line-ups, team news, and prediction

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Benfica vs Real Madrid: Match preview, predicted line-ups, team news, and prediction

Benfica welcome Real Madrid to Estadio da Luz for the UEFA Champions League knockout play-off first leg on Tuesday evening.

Benfica secured their play-off spot after beating Madrid 3-2 in their previous meeting, denying Los Blancos automatic qualification for the round of 16.

Match preview​

Benfica struggled during the league phase, collecting just nine points from eight matches, but will take encouragement from their recent performance against Madrid.

While Madrid dominated possession, Benfica were the better attacking side, creating eight big chances to Madrid’s three.

However, Jose Mourinho’s side need to defend better to stand a chance of qualifying for the round of 16 ahead of the second leg.

Madrid thrashed Real Sociedad 4-1 on Saturday, extending their winning streak to three matches. Yet, performances remain unconvincing.

Alvaro Arbeloa’s side continue to rely on Kylian Mbappe’s brilliance. The Frenchman netted twice against Benfica last time out and is the tournament’s top scorer with 13 goals.

Madrid are aiming to progress beyond the play-offs for the second consecutive season, after edging Manchester City 6-3 on aggregate last term.

Across four meetings with Benfica in the competition, the Spanish giants have won once and lost three.

Team news​

Richard Rios, Fredrik Aursnes, and Alexander Bah are ruled out for the hosts. Joao Veloso and Samuel Soares are doubtful.

For the visitors, Jude Bellingham, Eder Militao, Rodrygo and Raul Asencio are unavailable, with the latter pair suspended.

Predicted line-ups​

Benfica (4-2-3-1): Anatoliy Trubin, Tomas Araujo, Antonio Silva, Nicolas Otamendi, Samuel Dahl, Leandro Barreiro, Enzo Barrenechea , Gianluca Prestianni, Georgiy Sudakov, Andreas Schjelderup, Vangelis Pavlidis.

Real Madrid (4-3-1-2): Thibaut Courtois, Alvaro Carreras, Dean Huijsen, Antonio Rudiger, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde, Arder Guler, Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe.

Prediction​

We predict a 3-1 victory for Madrid.

Stats from sofascore.com, whoscored.com, & uefa.com

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