Comments and predictions for Benfica vs Monaco: Not easy to win
The match between Benfica vs Monaco in the Champions League takes place at 3:00 a.m. on February 19. Nghe An Newspaper analyzes performance, makes football comments and predicts the score.
Latest Benfica vs Monaco squad information
Monaco will be without holding midfielder Al-Musrati due to his red card in the first leg, while Benfica will also be without their number six Florentino, who is suspended for accumulating three yellow cards in the Champions League.
To complicate matters, Angel Di Maria and Tomas Araujo both picked up injuries in the first leg. Di Maria came on for Araujo before having to leave the pitch himself with a muscle problem. Both players are ruled out of the return leg.
Benfica’s injury list continues to grow with Alexander Bah (ACL rupture), Fredrik Aursnes (knee injury), Manu Silva (ACL rupture) and Renato Sanches (muscle injury). The hosts are also without Bruma, who scored in the previous game but is suspended following a red card in Braga’s Europa League tie with Union SG last month.
As for Monaco, Al-Musrati's unfortunate red card in the first leg means he will be absent. Coach Hutter also regrets that Denis Zakaria and Vanderson will have to sit out due to receiving enough yellow cards in the match in the middle of last week.
On the personnel front, the good news is that Christian Mawissa is back after serving a suspension since last week's defeat. However, Aleksandr Golovin has an adductor injury and is out, along with Jordan Teze (unspecified injury) and Folarin Balogun (shoulder injury).
With Vanderson and Teze out, Thilo Kehrer is likely to return to right-back on Tuesday night, while Takumi Minamino may have proved himself fit to start after scoring and providing two assists in a resounding win over Nantes.
Latest Benfica vs Monaco predicted lineup
Benfica:
Trubin; Santos, Otamendi, Silva, Carreras; Amdouni, Kokcu, Barreiro, Akturkoglu; Pavlidis, Cabral
Monaco:
Majecki; Kehrer, Salisu, Mawissa, Henrique; Camara, Coulibaly; Akliouche, Ben Seghir, Minamino; Biereth
Latest Benfica vs Monaco football review
With his sixth goal in the 2024-25 Champions League, Benfica's Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis skillfully chipped the ball past Monaco goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki to help the Portuguese side secure a narrow victory in the first leg in France.
Bruno Lage and his team also benefited from a regrettable mistake by Monaco midfielder Al-Musrati. Despite receiving a yellow card, the player still "gave" himself a red card by waving his hand to ask the referee to pull out an imaginary card. Considering current form, both in continental and domestic competitions, Benfica are in an extremely favorable position.
The win over Monaco extended Benfica's winning streak to four, and then five, in all competitions. Lage also saw his side win 1-0 at Santa Clara in the Portuguese league thanks to a goal from Bruma. However, Sporting Lisbon remain their fiercest opponents, leading the standings.
Despite being a small distance behind the leaders, the Eagles are aiming for a sixth consecutive win – something they haven’t done since January 2024. Their impressive home form of late will be key to achieving this goal.
In fact, Lage’s men have scored at least three goals in their last four games at the Estadio da Luz in all competitions. However, one of those games saw them lose 5-4 to Barcelona in a thrilling Champions League match. This means Benfica have won just one of their last eight home games in the competition.
Benfica's struggles in the Champions League may be nothing compared to Monaco's miserable away form over the winter, with Adi Hutter's side having lost their last four games and winning just one of their last ten away games.
That only win came against weak Union Saint-Jean in the Coupe de France, and Les Monegasques are in danger of failing to score in three consecutive away games in the Champions League for the first time since 2014. Ironically, the third game in that run was a 1-0 defeat to Benfica.
However, Monaco found their scoring instincts again on Saturday night, as Nantes travelled to the Stade Louis II in Ligue 1 and suffered an unbelievable 7-1 defeat. Remarkably, Hutter's side went behind in the fourth minute before creating a nightmare for Les Canaris after they were reduced to 10 men.
New signing Mika Biereth shone with an impressive hat-trick, his second goal since joining from Sturm Graz (Austria), which may give Arsenal something to think about, having let the in-form striker leave their academy last year.
Biereth’s killer instinct will be essential if Monaco are to reverse their poor run of form against Benfica. If the Ligue 1 side fail to turn things around in Portugal, they will become the fifth team the Eagles have faced in Europe without winning – a record no other side has ever had to endure.
Latest Benfica vs Monaco score prediction
Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of the match.Benfica vs Monacoas follows:
- Sportsmole:Benfica 1-1 Monaco
- WhoScore:Benfica 2-1 Monaco
- Our newspaper predicts:Benfica 2-2 Monaco
When and where to watch Benfica vs Monaco live?
To watch the Benfica vs Monaco match live in the Champions League taking place at 3:00 a.m. on February 19, viewers can watch it onK+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. Wish you have fun watching football.
