Within touching distance of a place in the last 16 of this season’s Champions League, Real Madrid head to Estadio da Luz for their final group-stage outing against Benfica on Wednesday.
The hosts, meanwhile, are on the verge of elimination and will need to pull off a giant killing to stand any chance of clinching a playoff berth.
Match Preview
In what was arguably their toughest assignment under interim manager Alvaro Arbeloa so far, Real Madrid made light work of Villarreal in Saturday’s clash at Estadio de la Ceramica.
A second-half double from Kylian Mbappe moved Los Blancos to the top of the La Liga table temporarily, before Barcelona eased past newly-promoted Oviedo yesterday.
Now on a run of three straight wins, including a 6-1 rout of Monaco in their last European involvement, Madrid are back in Estadio da Luz for the first time since their 2014 UCL final triumph against rivals Atletico Madrid.
Wednesday’s upcoming encounter will be the first competitive meeting between the sides, who have only met in a friendly 14 years ago.
Madrid are currently third in the UCL group-stage standings, but a defeat against Benfica could see them drop outside the top eight, forcing them to go through the playoffs for the second season running.
Benfica’s 2-0 defeat to Juventus on matchday seven dealt a huge blow to their last-16 hopes, as they fell to 29th, two points shy of Olympiacos in 24th.
However, Jose Mourinho’s men returned to winning ways on domestic duty with a 4-0 win over Estrela on Sunday for their second victory in five outings after an 11-game unbeaten run before that.
Back on the continental scene, where they have lost five of their seven matches despite conceding fewer goals than 20 of the 36 teams in the competitions, As Aguias have no margin for error in their quest to avoid a second group-stage exit in three years.
Wednesday’s hosts have won their last four home matches and will expect their supporters to rally behind them once again as they seek a crucial victory against more illustrious opponents.
Team News
Alexander Bah and Nuno Felix will not feature for Benfica as they continue to nurse knee injuries, while Dodi Lukebakio is out with a broken ankle.
Richard Rios, Joao Veloso and Samuel Soares will also miss out for the hosts who could, however, welcome back Henrique Araujo.
Vangelis Pavlidis has scored six times in as many matches since the turn of the year, making him one to keep an eye on here.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has endured an injury-hit debut campaign with Madrid and is still nursing a thigh issue.
The ex-Liverpool man is one of four defenders unavailable for the away side, joining Eder Militao (hamstring), Ferland Mendy (calf) and Antonio Rudiger (knee).
With 11 goals in six matches, Kylian Mbappe is in pole position for the Golden Boot and will look to add to his tally.
Benfica Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Trubin; Dedic, Araujo, Otamendi, Dahl; Aursnes, Barrenechea; Prestianni, Sudakov, Schjeldeerup; Pavlidis
Real Madrid Predicted XI (4-3-3): Courtois; Carreras, Huijsen, Asencio, Valverde; Bellingham, Tchouameni, Guler; Vinicius, Mbappe, Mastantuono
Prediction: Benfica 1-3 Real Madrid
