Benfica and Monaco will reconvene for the second leg of their Champions League play-off tie at the Estadio da Luz on Tuesday night.
The Portuguese giants drew first blood in last week’s first leg by securing a narrow 1-0 win at the Stade Louis II, in a game where our man Gabriel delivered a couple of winners.
Back at their Lisbon headquarters this midweek, Bruno Lage’s side will be quietly confident about their chances of stamping their ticket to the round of 16.
The Eagles warmed up for this crunch second leg encounter by edging past Santa Clara with a narrow 1-0 win at the weekend.
As for Monaco, they rebounded from their first leg setback in spectacular style by dishing out a 7-1 drubbing to Nantes in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Adi Hutter will be hoping that victory will act as a springboard for further success when his team try to salvage their Champions League campaign in the Portuguese capital.
How the bookies view it: Benfica in box seat
After claiming a 1 -0 win in last week’s first leg, Benfica are heavy 3/4 favourites on Boylesports to repeat the trick on Tuesday night.
Monaco are in must-win territory but the bookmakers’ odds suggest that outcome is unlikely, with an away success an unfancied 14/5 on Boylesports, while the draw is also considered unlikely at 3/1 with the same firm.
Head to head: History favours the hosts
Benfica beat Monaco 3-2 during the new-look league phase of the competition before last week’s 1-0 win in the first leg of this play-off tie. That means the Eagles have now emerged victorious from each of the last three encounters between the two sides.
Players to watch: Pavlidis to pounce again?
Vangelis Pavlidis scored the only goal of the game during last week’s first leg showdown. With 15 goals to his name across his 36 appearances in all competitions this season, the Greek goal-getter looks worth getting behind for an anytime strike here at 11/8 with William Hill.
Lamine Camara has been booked in two of his eight Champions League outings this season. The Monaco midfielder is 12/5 on Bet 365 to go into the book again this midweek against Benfica.
Predicted line-ups
Benfica have a lengthy list of players set to miss out here due to injury, while influential midfielder Florentino will serve a one-match suspension.
Similarly, Monaco are also carrying a heavy injury list at the moment, not helped by the fact that Al Musrati, Denis Zakaria and Vanderson are all suspended for this week’s second leg showdown.
Benfica: Trubin; Santos, Otamendi, Silva, Carreras; Amdouni, Kokcu, Barreiro, Akturkoglu; Pavlidis, Cabral
Monaco: Majecki; Kehrer, Salisu, Mawissa, Henrique; Camara, Coulibaly; Akliouche, Ben Seghir, Minamino; Biereth
Anything else catch the eye?
Mika Biereth has been in magnificent form for Monaco in recent weeks, scoring seven times across his last three outings in Ligue 1.
That seven-goal haul includes a pair of hat-tricks, the most recent of which arrived against Nantes last time out.
With the in-form 22-year-old forward expected to spearhead Monaco's attack on Tuesday night, he looks a touch too big to register one or more shots on target at 8/11 on UniBet.
This UEFA Champions League match between Benfica and Monaco will be played on Feb 18, 2025 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Benfica vs Monaco prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
