Benfica vs Juventus Preview – Prediction, how to watch & potential line-ups | OneFootball

Juventus’ hopes of avoiding their first Champions League group stage elimination since 2013/14 are on the line as they travel to the Estadio da Luz to take on Benfica.

With two matches left and five points keeping the Bianconeri at a considerable distance, Benfica could lock down their place in the Champions League knock-outs for the second season come Tuesday.

If the Eagles avoid defeat against the Italian heavyweights and Maccabi Haifa fail to overcome Paris Saint-Germain, they’ll qualify for the round of 16 with a game to spare.

After winning their opening two outings in Group H, including a come-from-behind 2-1 triumph in Turin, Roger Schmidt’s men have played out back-to-back 1-1 draws with fellow section leaders PSG.

Benfica’s stellar form under the former PSV Eindhoven boss stretches far beyond the Champions League, as they’ve yet to lose a domestic fixture under his guidance (W15, D1).

Confidence must be skyrocketing in the home camp these days after Rafa Silva’s second-half winner fired Schmidt’s side to a 1-0 victory over arch-rivals Porto at the weekend.

Unlike their hosts, visiting Juventus have experienced a troublesome 2022/23 start and could find themselves out of the Champions League this midweek.

A frustrating 2-0 defeat at Haifa in the previous Champions League round threw Massimiliano Allegri’s immediate future in doubt, but the Italians have since relished an upturn in form.

Dusan Vlahovic first handed Juventus a morale-boosting 1-0 win over fellow city rivals Torino before they crushed bottom-half Serie A strugglers Empoli 4-0 last Friday.

But all that would be in vain unless Allegri’s men muster another triumph in Lisbon to give their stuttering Champions League campaign a lifeline, knowing they’re already well off the Scudetto pace.

Match Preview

Benfica

In addition to enjoying a 100% win ratio against Juventus at home, Benfica also boast a formidable home record in Europe, losing only twice across their last 23 matches at da Luz (W14, D6).

Furthermore, the Eagles are unbeaten in five consecutive home outings in the Champions League (W2, D3) for the first time in over a decade, highlighting the team’s noticeable growth under Schmidt.

It’s also worth noting that PSG are the only side to have prevented Benfica from taking all three points at home this season in all competitions (W7 otherwise).

Juventus

Juventus eked out a narrow win at Torino on their most recent travel to arrest an abysmal run of four successive defeats away from home, three of which saw them fail to get on the scoresheet.

Scoring has been a genuine problem for Allegri’s side outside the Allianz Stadium this season, as they’ve netted one goal or fewer in all seven away games thus far.

That does not bode well for Juventus’ hopes of bettering their lacklustre all-time record on Portuguese soil that has seen them win just once in their eight matches away to Primeira Liga adversaries (D2, L4).

Benfica vs Juventus Potential Line-ups

Benfica (4-2-3-1): Odysseas Vlachodimos; Gilberto, Antonio Silva, Nicolas Otamendi, Alex Grimaldo; Enzo Fernandez, Luis; Joao Mario, Rafa Silva, David Neres; Goncalo Ramos.

Juventus (3-5-2): Wojciech Szczesny; Danilo, Leoanrdo Bonucci, Daniele Rugani; Juan Cuadrado, Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli, Adrien Rabiot, Filip Kostic; Arkadiusz Milik, Dusan Vlahovic.

How to Watch?

Benfica vs Juventus, alongside all other matches in Europe’s most prestigious club competition this season, is available to watch online via Champions League live streams.

And if you are interested in attending a future UCL game, see our Champions League tickets page for more information.

Benfica vs Juventus Prediction

Despite Juventus’ mini-revival, we cannot see Allegri’s underperformers take down the fortress Benfica have turned da Luz into this season.

While a draw seems to be the likeliest outcome, we won’t be surprised if the Eagles beat the Italians again.

Benfica 1-1 Juventus