Benficavs.Feyenoord

Both sides have lost only once this season, and are in decent shape in the 36-team Champions League standings, but are lagging behind dominant forces in their domestic leagues.

Match preview

Life could not have started much better for manager Bruno Lage at Benfica, with the standout result of his short reign so far being the 4-0 thrashing they handed to Atletico Madrid on matchday two.

After also beating Red Star Belgrade on the first matchday, Benfica are one of seven clubs to win their opening two games in the competition, and only Borussia Dortmund have a better goal difference.

Consequently, that gives Benfica the opportunity to win their opening three UCL games for the first time in 35 years, and the 1989-90 season saw them go all the way to the final.

Since the sacking of Roger Schmidt following a draw with Moreirense, Benfica have won six from six under Lage, scoring 20 goals in the process, but they are still some way behind city rivals Sporting Lisbon, who are yet to drop a point.

Lage did not let off-field headlines about alleged match fixing affect matters on the field over the weekend, as Benfica cruised to a 2-0 win over fourth-tier Pevidem in the cup.

The hosts will now face a Feyenoord team they faced as recently as July in a pre-season friendly, which ended 5-0 in favour of the Eagles, and they have similar success when meeting competitively.

These two have not faced off in Europe in over half a century, but Benfica got the better of Feyenoord in two-legged meetings in 1963 and 1972, winning their home leg comfortably on both occasions.

After a humbling defeat at home to Bayer Leverkusen on matchday one where Feyenoord were 4-0 down at the interval, Brian Priske's side responded excellently by winning away to Girona in a thrilling encounter last time out.

Both teams missed from the spot, and two Girona own goals ultimately handed Feyenoord the win, with the all-important second coming when David Hancko, who had an own goal of his own ruled out by VAR, saw his former Sparta Prague team mate Ladislav Krejci divert his effort beyond his own goalkeeper.

The visitors have evidently taken confidence from that win in Spain, because after winning just two of their first seven games this season, Feyenoord have now won three in succession.

A 2-1 win against a tricky Twente side saw them enter the international break happy, and on their return, they thrashed Go Ahead Eagles 5-1 on the road, an impressive result considering GAE qualified for Europe last season.

Good recent performances will make Feyenoord believe they can win back-to-back Champions League away games for the first time since 1971, even if their opponents are on a hot streak themselves.

Benfica Champions League form:

W

W

Benfica form (all competitions):

W

W

W

W

W

W

Feyenoord Champions League form:

L

W

Feyenoord form (all competitions):

L

W

D

W

W

W

Team News

Against weak opposition, Lage rotated his Benfica side, keeping the likes of Angel Di Maria, Kerem Akturkoglu and Nicolas Otamendi at home ahead of this encounter.

Jan-Niklas Beste was handed his first start under Lage and repaid the faith by scoring both goals in the win over Pevidem, as Benfica's starting XI at the weekend included just four of those that featured from the outset against Atletico.

On the injury front, Renato Sanches (muscle) and Tiago Gouveia (shoulder) are both doubtful for Benfica here.

Unlike their opponents, Feyenoord were at full strength for their fixture on Saturday night, as Priske made sure they got the better of Go Ahead Eagles.

Young defender Thomas Beelen is the one player who could come into the side from that XI, as he has been a regular so far, and should replace Gernot Trauner.

Santiago Gimenez remains a big miss up front for the Dutch side though, and it is unlikely Quilindschy Hartman, Calvin Stengs or Bart Nieuwkoop will be fit in time to feature either.

Benfica possible starting lineup:

Trubin; Bah, Antonio Silva, Otamendi, Carreras; Aursnes, Florentino Luis, Kokcu; Di Maria, Pavlidis, Akturkoglu

Feyenoord possible starting lineup:

Wellenreuther; Lotomba, Beelen, Hancko, Bueno; Milambo, Hwang, Timber; Osman, Ueda, Igor Paixao

We say: Benfica 2-0 Feyenoord

Feyenoord are certainly showing signs of improvement, but there is no doubting Benfica's superiority on paper, and there are fewer sides in better form on the continent right now.

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