Benfica welcomes Spartak Moscow to Estadio da Luz on Tuesday for the second leg of the third qualifying round of EUFA Champions League with kickoff at 22:00.
Benfica were impressive in the first leg where they registered a crucial 2-0 win at away in Moscow last week. Second half goals from Rafa Silva and Gilberto sealed the first leg win for Jorge Jesus’ side.
The hosts head into the match on the back of a 2-1 win over Moreirense in their 2021-22 Primeira Liga opener last weekend. Benfica managed to record the victory despite playing out most of the second half with 10 men following Diogo Goncalve’s red card.
Benfica are the favorites in Tuesday’s clash as they are boasting in a brilliant form currently with a seven-match unbeaten run across all competitions so far as well as they haven’t lost in any of their last eight home matches. They also have a home advantage against Spartak.
Meanwhile, Spartak Moscow under the management of former Benfica manager Rui Victoria will be welcomed with open arms at Estadio da Luz where Rui won 125 of his 184 games during his reign at Benfica.
However, Spartak have been facing difficulties in recent weeks as they have only managed to win one match of their last four matches across all competitions losing all the remaining three. They opened their new campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Rubin Kazan but managed to bounce back to a 1-0 win against Kryliya Sovetov before falling again to a 2-1 defeat to Novgorod in their third league match last weekend. Prior to the weekend’s defeat Spartak Moscow lost 2-0 to Benfica in the Champions League.
Rui’s Side will now have to find inspiration from somewhere to claim a much-needed win here which will not be easy for them as Benfica have a good home record of having just lost one match in 19 games.
Benfica vs Spartak Moscow head to head
Both sides have met three times since 2012 with Benfica claiming two victories while Spartak Moscow have one win. Here are the results from their previous encounters;
- Spartak Moscow 0-2 Benfica 04/08/21
- Benfica 2-0 Spartak Moscow 07/11/12
- Spartak Moscow 2-1 Benfica 23/10/12
Home
- Moreirense 1-2 Benfica
- Spartak Moscow 0-2 Benfica
- Benfica 1-1 Marseille
- Benfica 1-0 Lille
- Benfica 2-1 Almeria
Away
- Spartak Moscow 1-2 Novgorod
- Spartak Moscow 0-2 Benfica
- Kryliya Sovetov 0-1 Spartak Moscow
- Rubin Kazan 1-0 Spartak Moscow
- Spartak Moscow 5-1 Khimki
Benfica team news
Seferovic will miss the match as he is kept out for up to three weeks with a calf injury, he picked in the first leg. Darwin Nunez will also miss the match due to a knee surgery.
Spartak Moscow team news
Spartak Moscow will be without Aleksandr Selikhov with a finger injury and Pavel Maslov with a hip injury. Victor Moses remains in doubt of participating in Tuesday’s clash as he was brought out in the 36th minute at the weekend due to an injury.
Prediction and odds
- Benfica win
- Both sides to score(yes)
- Goals over 2.5
