Champions League | Knockout Round Playoffs | 2nd Leg

Feb 18, 2025 at 8pm UK

Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica

Benfica vs Monaco

(agg: 1-0)

Match preview

Benfica's dazzling Greek centre-forward Vangelis Pavlidis found the back of the net for the sixth time in the 2024-25 Champions League, lobbing the ball over Monaco's Radoslaw Majecki with exemplary composure to settle a hard-fought first leg in the Principality.

Bruno Lage's men were also helped by the foolishness of Monaco midfielder Al-Musrati, who was sent off for waving an imaginary yellow card at the referee, and the Portuguese giants could hardly be in a better continental or domestic position at the moment.

The narrow victory over Monaco was Benfica's fourth in five matches in all competitions, and although Lage also oversaw a 1-0 Primeira Liga triumph over Santa Clara on Saturday thanks to a Bruma strike, Sporting Lisbon remain the team to beat at the top of the table.

Nevertheless, the Eagles remain within touching distance of the leaders and are on course for their first six-game winning streak since January 2024, with their recent penchant for scoring at home likely to help their cause.

Indeed, Lage's men have scored at least three times in each of their last four games at the Estadio da Luz in all competitions, although one of those games saw them concede five goals to Barcelona in a nine-goal UCL spectacular, meaning they have won just one of their last eight home games in the competition.

Benfica's home woes in the Champions League may be dwarfed by Monaco's horrendous away form over the winter, with Adi Hutter's men losing each of their last four away from home and winning just one of their last 10 away from home.

Even that success came against minnows Union Saint-Jean in the Coupe de France, and Les Monegasques are now in danger of going three consecutive Champions League away games without scoring a goal for the first time since 2014, with the third game of that run ending in a 1-0 defeat to none other than Benfica.

However, Monaco put their best shooting boots to the test on Saturday night when Nantes visited the Stade Louis II in Ligue 1 and left with a 7-1 defeat. Hutter's men found themselves behind in the fourth minute before wreaking havoc at Les Canaris after the visitors had been reduced to 10 men.

January signing Mika Biereth stole the limelight with a superb treble, his second hat-trick since arriving from Austrian outfit Sturm Graz; a penny for the thoughts of striker-starved Arsenal, who let the red-hot Scandinavian leave their academy ranks last year.

Biereth's predatory instincts will be needed if Monaco are to buck a terrible trend against Benfica; should the Ligue 1 side fail to turn the tie around in Portugal, they will have faced the Eagles in Europe five times without ever winning, more than any other team.

Recent Performance

Benfica Champions League form:LWDLWW

Benfica form (all competitions):LWWWWW

Monaco Champions League form:WLLWLL

Monaco form (all competitions):WLWLLW

Team News

While Monaco lost holding midfielder Al-Musrati to a red card in the first leg, Benfica will be without their own number six as Florentino is suspended for Tuesday's game after picking up three yellow cards in the Champions League.

To make matters worse, both Angel Di Maria and Tomas Araujo were injured in the first leg - the former came on as a substitute for the injured Araujo before being substituted himself with a muscular problem - and neither is expected to be fit for the return leg.

The pair join Alexander Bah (ACL), Fredrik Aursnes (knee), Manu Silva (ACL) and Renato Sanches (muscle) in the Benfica medical room, while the hosts will also be without top scorer Bruma, who is serving a continental ban from last month's Europa League match for Braga against Union SG.

Meanwhile, Al-Musrati's absurd dismissal in the first leg carries a one-match ban, and Hutter will also have to contend with the absence of Denis Zakaria and Vanderson, who both received yellow cards last Wednesday.

On the positive side, Christian Mawissa has returned from the suspension he received in last week's defeat, but Aleksandr Golovin has since picked up an adductor injury and joins Jordan Teze (undisclosed) and Folarin Balogun (shoulder) on the sidelines.

With both Vanderson and Teze unavailable, Thilo Kehrer is likely to return to the right-back role on Tuesday night, where Takumi Minamino could also earn a start after scoring a goal and providing two assists in the demolition of Nantes.

Possible starting lineup

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