Champions League | League Stage

Nov 27, 2024 at 8pm UK

Stade Louis II.

Monacovs.Benfica

Match preview

After a bit of a blip against Angers at the start of the month, Monaco have bounced back brilliantly, with Adi Hutter's team now on a three-game winning streak.

Monaco beat Bologna on matchday four, which puts them in third place at the halfway point of this Champions League campaign. Only Liverpool and Sporting Lisbon are above them with 100% records.

Since that success at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Monaco have won 3-1 away to a usually strong Strasbourg and 3-2 at home to Brest at the weekend. That means they've taken 26 points from a possible 36 in Ligue 1 so far.

They've been really successful at home and in Europe, with just one defeat in nine games here so far this season. That includes a win over Barcelona.

Monaco had gone 14 games without a win in the Champions League before this campaign started. But after six years away, they've made a strong comeback, with 10 points from their opening four games. They've also won three games at this stage of a UCL season for just the second time, after doing so in 1997-98.

This will be just the third time the two clubs have met, with the first two coming back in the group stage of this competition in 2014. Monaco came top and Benfica finished bottom of that section, but the Portuguese club still managed to take four points off their upcoming opponents, keeping a clean sheet in both.

Benfica haven't been as convincing at home or in the UCL so far, but they're improving all the time under Bruno Lage, who's made a big impact since replacing Roger Schmidt.

The visitors thumped Atlético Madrid 4-0 on matchday two, but have since lost at home to Feyenoord and narrowly away to Bayern Munich last time out. This has seen them drop from joint-top to 19th.

After their trip to Bavaria though, Benfica have been on fire. They beat Porto 4-1 to close the gap on them and the Champions League places to just two points, before hammering Estrela 7-0 in the cup at the weekend. That takes Lage to 11 wins in his first 13 games in charge.

That should give them the motivation to finally record a 50th UCL win, with Lage's only two losses since taking over both coming in this competition in their last two outings.

One thing they've never managed to do is win an away game in France in the Champions League. They've drawn three and lost five in eight visits.

Recent Performance

Monaco Champions League form:WDWW

Monaco form (all competitions):WLLWWW

Benfica Champions League form:WWLL

Benfica form (all competitions):WWWLWW

Team News

Monaco will be able to welcome Lamine Camara back into the starting XI here after he served a domestic suspension at the weekend. This means the hosts should have their first-choice midfield on display, following Denis Zakaria's recovery from injury.

Caio Henrique lost his spot on the team to teenager Christian Mawissa Elebi at the weekend, and it's not clear who will start at left-back here. The more experienced Brazilian also sat out the win over Bologna.

On the injury front, Folarin Balogun and Krepin Diatta have both been ruled out of this one, having recently joined the list of players currently sidelined.

Benfica will be without right-back Alexander Bah after he injured his knee in the thrashing of Estrela over the weekend. He's joined by Tiago Gouveia, who is doubtful, and Gianluca Prestianni on the treatment table.

Lage left out a lot of his usual starting players for the cup win, but the way they won could mean some of them keep their places in the side, including Angel Di Maria and Arthur Cabral.

Di Maria scored three goals in 18 minutes, meaning he now has five goals in two games. But it's not clear whether he can play twice in a week at the age of 36. Meanwhile, Arthur may be replaced by Vangelis Pavlidis in the side despite scoring twice.

Turkish duo Kerem Akturkoglu and Orkun Kokcu, recent Portuguese call-up Tiago Araujo, and goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin were also given a break at the weekend, and should be back in action in France.

Possible starting lineup

Monaco possible starting lineup:

Majecki, Vanderson, Kehrer, Salisu, Caio Henrique; Zakaria, Camara; Akliouche, Golovin, Ben Seghir; Embolo

Benfica possible starting lineup:

Trubin; Kabore, Tiago Araujo, Otamendi, Fernandez; Aursnes, Florentino Luis, Kokcu; Di Maria, Pavlidis, Akturkoglu