Press highlights five intriguing facts from Fenerbahçe - Benfica

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·21. August 2025

Press highlights five intriguing facts from Fenerbahçe - Benfica

Benfica drew nil-nil (0-0) in their trip to Turkey, against Fenerbahçe, in the first leg of the play-off to access the regular phase of the Champions League. Although it was not a game with much history, as there were no goals from either team, here are five facts that marked the confrontation.

Neither of the two teams created great scoring opportunities, however, Anatoliy Trubin left the match with six saves and prevented 1.1 goals (defense - xSaves). Fenerbahçe even saw a goal being annulled by the linesman.
Benfica was extremely competent and managed to close the paths to their goal. Fenerbahçe totaled 14 shots, but ten of them were taken from outside the area.
Statistically it is unusual to see a game without any clear chance, but that's exactly what happened in this match. Neither Fenerbahçe nor Benfica managed to create situations with only the goalkeeper ahead.
A game with little creativity and a referee who did not let the ball run, resulted in an intense fight for the ball and constant individual duels. Here, the Turks had a clear advantage over Benfica. In total, Fenerbahçe won 60, 14 more than the reds.
Bruno Lage surprised everyone by starting Akturkoglu, although much has been said about his departure to Fenerbahçe. Even so, the Turk was the Benfica player who recorded the most shots (3) and actions with the ball in the opposite area (6) of the match.

All these statistics were provided by the Goalpoint website.

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Bruno Lage emphasized the importance of taking the tie to Luz and that's exactly what Benfica sought to do throughout the match. With the withdrawal of Ivanovic from the starting eleven, and the inclusion of Florentino in the central midfield area, the coach of the reds adopted a more closed and cautious scheme.

The next duel of the tie is scheduled for the next August 27, Wednesday, at the Luz Stadium. Benfica will host Fenerbahçe with the score at zero and only needs to win the game to secure a spot in the regular phase of the Champions League.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.