Preview: Monaco vs Benfica – prediction, team news, lineups

Strong starters Monaco Welcome to form Benfica Team at Stade Louis II on matchday five Champions League on Wednesday evening.

Both picked up domestic victories over the weekend and are well on their way to reaching the knockout stages of this competition.

Game preview

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After a mistake against Angers earlier this month, Monaco responded brilliantly Adi Hutter‘s men are now on a three-game winning streak.

Monaco defeated Bologna on matchday four to win the title until the third at the halfway point of this Champions League league stage, with only 100% Liverpool and Sporting Lisbon above them.

Since that success at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, Monaco have won 3-1 away against normally strong Strasbourg and 3-2 at home against Brest at the weekend, meaning they have picked up 26 points from a possible 36 in Ligue 1 until now.

Home form has been an important factor in their success domestically and on the continent. There has only been one defeat in nine games here this season, including a win over Barcelona.

Before the start of this season, Monaco were on a run of 14 games without a win in the Champions League, but after six years without a win they have come back well with 10 points from their first four games and have won three at this stage of the UCL for only the second time this season – after 1997/98.

This is only the third time the two clubs have met, the first two coming back in the group stage of this competition in 2014, and although Monaco finished first and Benfica finished last in that group, the Portuguese club took four points clear of them upcoming opponents, although they kept a clean sheet in both cases.

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Benfica have been underwhelming domestically and in the UCL so far, but they are getting better as time goes on Bruno Lagewho has made a big impression since his replacement Roger Smith.

The visitors beat Atlético Madrid 0-4 on matchday two, but have since lost at home to Feyenoord and most recently narrowly away to Bayern Munich, meaning they have fallen from joint top spot to 19th place.

However, after their trip to Bavaria, Benfica put in a brilliant performance, beating Porto 4-1 to close the gap on them and the Champions League places. to just two pointsbefore beating Estrela 7-0 in the cup at the weekend, giving Lage 11 wins in his first 13 games as manager.

That should give them the inspiration to finally record their 50th UCL win, with Lage only suffering two defeats in his last two games in the competition since taking charge of both teams.

However, they have to contend with the fact that they have never won away from home in the Champions League in France – there were three draws and five defeats in eight games.

Monaco Champions League form:

Monaco form (all competitions):

Benfica Champions League form:

Benfica form (all competitions):

Team news

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Monaco will be able to welcome Lamine Camara After serving a home ban at the weekend, he returned to the starting eleven here, meaning the hosts should have their first-choice midfield afterward Denis Zakaria‘s recovery from an injury.

Caio Henrique The teenager saw his place in the team taken Christian Mawissa Elebi at the weekend and who will start at left-back remains unclear as the more experienced Brazilian also missed the win over Bologna.

As for the injuries, Folarin Balogun was accompanied on the sidelines by Krepin Diatta recently, with both being excluded from it.

Benfica will be without a right-back Alexander Bah After the Danish international injured his knee in the brawl against Estrela at the weekend, he moved on Tiago Gouveiawho doubts, and Gianluca Prestianni on the treatment table.

For the cup win, Lage begrudged a large part of his starting eleven, but the nature of the success meant that some retained their places in the team, including Angel Di Maria And Arthur Cabral.

Di Maria scored a hat-trick in 18 minutes, meaning he has now scored five goals in his last two. However, it is questionable whether he could play twice in a week at the age of 36, while Arthur may see it Vangelis Pavlidis take his place in the team despite scoring two goals.

Turkish duo Kerem Akturkoglu And Orkun Kokcurecent Portuguese nomination Tiago Araujoand goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin were also rested at the weekend and should return to the team in France.

Monaco’s 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

We say: Monaco – Benfica 1:1

Monaco are winless in their last three home games against Portuguese clubs and while they have been in excellent form at the Stade Louis II and sit third in the 36-team standings, it will be a difficult test.

That’s because Benfica’s recent performances have given them a lot of confidence: they frustrated Bayern for long periods, beat Porto and rose to seventh heaven at the weekend. So you will feel like you can take something away here.

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