Juventus will be keen to bounce back to winning ways when they welcome Benfica to Allianz Stadium for their Champions League Group H second round tie on Wednesday night.
Juventus suffered a 2-1 defeat at away to PSG on their Champions League opening night in the last midweek. Kylian Mbappe’s brace in the first half was enough to do the job for the Frenchmen, while a second half effort from Weston McKennie only proved to be a consolation for Juve.
The Old Lady followed that up with a disappointing but a feisty 2-2 draw against Salernitana in Serie A last weekend. The clash was involved a dramatic and chaotic conclusion as the Bianconeri were reduced to nine men and coach Max Allegri was also sent off due to a fight that broke out following a VRA’s decision to scrub off Juve’s last-minute winner.
Allegri’s men have now just won one of their last six matches across all competitions and currently languish in eighth place in Serie A, while are third in Group H of the champions League joint on zero points with Maccabi Haifa who are rock bottom.
They will therefore be desperate to turn around their fortunes on Wednesday, and having not lost in their last eight home matches, they should feel confident.
Meanwhile Benfica opened their Champions League adventure with a deserving 2-0 home win over Maccabi Haifa in the last midweek, thanks to Rafa Silva and Alex Grimaldo’s early second half goals.
They followed that up with a 1-0 away win over Famalicao in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, which extended their winning run to 17 matches across all competitions and stretching back to last season. Benfica still boast a 100% record across two competitions this season, as they have won all their opening six Primeira Liga matches and their five matches in the Champions League, which include the qualification games.
The Eagles are also boasting a 10-match unbeaten run on the road with a nine-match winning streak, which they will hope to extend on Wednesday as they seek to increase their chances of a top-two finish in Group H.
Juventus vs Benfica head to head
Both sides have met in four encounters since 2012 with both sides claiming one win each and there have been two draws.
- Benfica 2-4 Juventus 28/07/18 (AP)
- Juventus 0-0 Benfica 01/05/14
- Benfica 2-1 Juventus 24/04/14
- Juventus 1-1 Benfica 01/08/12
Home
- Juventus 2-2 Salernitana
- PSG 2-1 Juventus
- Fiorentina 1-1 Juventus
- Juventus 2-0 Spezia
- Juventus 1-1 Roma
Away
- Famalicao 0-1 Benfica
- Benfica 2-0 Maccabi Haifa
- Benfica 2-1 Vizela
- Benfica 3-2 Pacos Ferreira
- Boavista 0-3 Benfica
Juventus team news
All Angel Di Maria, Kaio Jorge, Paul Pogba, Marley Ake, Federico Chiesa, and Wojciech Szczesny are sidelined with injuries, while Adrien Rabiot and Manuel Locatelli are major doubts.
Benfica team news
Lucas Verissimo, Joao Victor, and Morato are the injury concerns for Benfica.
Prediction and odds
- Draw
- Both sides to score
- Goals over 1.5
