Benfica vs Bayern Munich: Turning the tables?

(Baonghean.vn) - With just a draw, Bayern Munich will reach the Champions League semi-finals for the fifth consecutive time, but people do not think things are that simple. Fans are waiting to see if Benfica can perform a miracle and turn the tables?

In terms of strength, the home team at Da Luz Stadium (Lisbon) is slightly damaged by the absence of two of their attacking talents. Veteran striker Jonas, who has scored 18 goals in 18 appearances since the beginning of 2016, cannot play due to receiving 3 yellow cards.

Remember, the Brazilian striker is currently leading the race for the European Golden Shoe 2015/16 season with Cristiano Ronaldo (Real) and Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli) with 30 goals each in the domestic league. Another name that is being eyed by big European clubs is Nico Gaitan, who is having muscle problems.

Fortunately, Brazilian youngster Renato Sanches, a target for Arsenal and Manchester United, is likely to feature while Lisandro Lopez, Nuno Santos and Julio Cesar remain on the injury list. It must be said that the spirit of the game is the Portuguese team's strongest point at the moment.

A week ago at Allianz, despite conceding an early goal, Benfica still played resiliently and only left Germany with their heads held high with a minimal defeat. Tonight, when they return to play at home at Da Luz, with the cheers of tens of thousands of fans, Benfica will certainly show a different side.

Coach Rui Vitoria when talking about the difficulty of the squad shortage: "We will not sit here and cry. We will put out a team that is competitive enough to face them on an equal basis." People are waiting for Benfica, after 26 years of waiting, to be present in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Bayern Munich are flying high in Germany.

The Bavarian giants will come to Portugal with the mindset of "offensively compensating for defense" when defenders Boateng and Badstuber are absent due to injury, and the chances of Robben, Coman and Benatia playing are extremely low. With the return of Ribery and "killer" Vidal, it is not difficult to see that Pep Guardiola will ask his stars to control the ball and suffocate the opponent right from the midfield area.

Bayern Munich, also a European team that often plays with a 3-2-4-1 formation, is quite unfamiliar to fans. A draw in Portugal would be enough, but captain Philipp Lahm confidently declared in a press conference "we have to score to decide the ticket to the semi-finals".

Under Guardiola's guidance, Bayern have become the best team in Europe, and are being tipped by bookmakers to be favourites to win the UEFA Champions League. Guardiola has only two months left at Bayern Munich, so he doesn't want to stop at just taking the German giants to the Champions League semi-finals twice.

Pep is determined toBayern go to the final match.

Bavarian fans are confident of progressing as Bayern have won all three previous encounters with Benfica in the Champions League. Their favourite team has advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for four consecutive seasons, since 2011/2012. Meanwhile, Benfica have only reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League once in the last four seasons; that was in 2011/2012. But in football, anything can happen!

Expected starting lineup:

Benfica (4-4-2): Ederson - A. Aimeida, Lindelof, Jardel, Eliseu - Guedes, Fejsa, Renato Sanches, Gaitan - Jimenez, Mitroglou.

Bayern (3-2-4-1): Neuer - Lahm, Kimmich, Alaba, Bernat - Vidal - Douglas Costa, T. Mueller, Thiago, Ribery - Lewandowski.

Prediction: Benfica 1-2 Bayern Munich

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