Two Matchday 1 winners face off on Wednesday night in the Champions League league phase as Benfica take on Atletico Madrid in Lisbon.
Benfica are now led by former Wolves manager Bruno Lage following the dismissal of Roger Schmidt at the end of August. The Portuguese side have won four on the bounce in all competitions since the manager’s exit, with Lage tasked with reclaiming Benfica’s Primeira Liga crown from city rivals Sporting CP.
Their Champions League campaign started with a hard-fought 2-1 win in Serbia against Red Star Belgrade two weeks ago. Orkun Kokcu’s divine free-kick doubled Benfica’s lead after Kerem Akturkoglou’s early opener.
They have an even sterner test on Wednesday as they face an Atletico Madrid side with plenty of pedigree in this competition. Diego Simeone has guided Los Rojiblancos to two Champions League finals, and the draw fell kindly for Atleti last season, but they instead succumbed to Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals.
Jose Maria Gimenez secured a dramatic 2-1 victory for the La Liga side against RB Leipzig on Matchday 1 after Benjamin Sesko handed the visitors a fourth-minute lead. Simeone’s side most recently played out a gruelling Madrid derby in which they earned a point thanks to Angel Correa’s stoppage-time equaliser.
Here is 90min’s guide to Wednesday’s Champions League clash in Lisbon.
Benfica vs Atletico Madrid H2H Record (All Games)
Current form (all competitions)
How to watch Benfica vs Atletico Madrid on TV and live stream
Benfica team news
Renato Sanches is set to miss out on Wednesday with a muscle injury sustained in August, while Tiago Gouveia is yet to feature under Lage due to a shoulder injury. He’ll likely return after the international break.
The manager is unlikely to make too many changes from the side that battered Gil Vicente at the weekend, with Angel Di Maria and summer arrival Kerem Akturkoglou continuing in the frontline alongside Vangelis Pavidis.
Benfica predicted lineup vs Atletico Madrid
Benfica predicted lineup vs Atletico Madrid (4-3-3): Trubin; Araujo, Silva, Otamendi, Fernandez; Aursnes, Luis, Kokcu; Di Maria, Pavlidis, Akturkoglou.
Atletico Madrid team news
Pablo Barrios remains a doubt for the away side with a muscle injury, while veteran defender Cesar Azpilicueta is unlikely to feature due to a thigh strain.
Marcos Llorente was sent off late on in Sunday’s Madrid derby, but he won’t be suspended for Wednesday’s game and Simeone may retain him in his starting XI. However, the versatile Spaniard could perform a wing-back role with Atleti potentially switching to a back three for this Champions League duel on foreign soil.
Centre-back Robin Le Normand is sidelined after suffering a head injury.
Koke and Samuel Lino are also contenders to return to the XI.
Atletico Madrid predicted lineup vs Benfica
Atletico Madrid predicted lineup vs Benfica (3-5-2): Oblak; Witsel, Gimenez, Reinildo; Llorente, De Paul, Koke, Gallagher, Lino; Griezmann, Sorloth.
Atletico remained unbeaten at the start of the new season thanks to Correa’s late equaliser on Sunday, while Benfica are on a four-game winning run since the departure of Schmidt.
The new manager bounce they’ve enjoyed under Lage has manifested with great distinction in recent outings, but this duel will be a big test of their credentials. Everytime you think Atleti are evolving under Simeone, they produce performances such as last Thursday’s 1-0 win at Celta Vigo in which they revert to type.
The visitors are such tough opponents in this competition, and they’ll likely turn Wednesday’s bout into a slugfest in which the spoils are shared.
