Benfica vs. Monaco: UCL Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

On Tuesday night, at the Estadio da Luz, Benfica and Monaco will meet again for the second leg of their playoff match. The winner will face either Barcelona or Liverpool in the final sixteen of the Champions League.

With a 1-0 lead from last week's first leg, the Portuguese powerhouses returned to face opponents without key players due to suspensions. The match took place at the Stade Louis II.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Vangelis Pavlidis, a shimmering Greek center striker for Benfica, scored his sixth goal in the 2024–25 Champions League with a composed chip over Radoslaw Majecki of Monaco to win a closely fought first-leg match in Monaco.

Portuguese powerhouses Porto are now undefeated on the continent and in their local league, and Bruno Lage's men received a boost from the blundering of Monaco midfielder Al-Musrati, who received a red card for imagining a yellow card and got himself sent off.

Lage also managed Benfica's 1-0 Primeira Liga victory over Santa Clara on Saturday, with a goal from Bruma, but Sporting Lisbon is still the team to beat in the top spot of the table. Benfica's narrow victory over Monaco was the fourth in a five-match winning streak across all competitions.

Regardless, the Eagles are still in the quest for a six-game winning streak, something they haven't achieved since January 2024. Their recent home games have been goal-heavy, which should aid their cause.

Although Lage's squad has scored three times in each of their last four matches at the Estadio da Luz in all tournaments, they have only won one of their previous eight home games in the competition in one of those matches, as they allowed five goals to Barcelona in a nine-goal UCL spectacular.

Monaco's awful away history this winter has made Benfica's home Champions League difficulties seem like child's play. Adi Hutter's squad has lost their previous four road games and won once in their last ten away games.

Even that victory came in the Coupe de France against Union Saint-Jean, an inferior team. Les Monegasques are now in danger of losing their third straight Champions League away game, a skid that began in 2014 with a 1-0 defeat to Benfica.

However, Monaco put their shooting boots to good use on Saturday night in a 7-1 thrashing of Nantes at the Stade Louis II in Ligue 1. Hutter's squad initially trailed Les Canaris 0–1 in the fourth minute before unleashing a barrage of goals in the second half when Les Canaris fell 0–10.

January agreement The attention was on Mika Biereth, who scored an incredible hat trick—his second hat trick since joining from Austrian club Sturm Graz—and left a lasting impression on Arsenal, who were short on strikers after letting the talented Swede depart their academy last year.

If the Ligue 1 club from Monaco can't reverse the stalemate in Portugal, they will have played Benfica five times in Europe without a victory, more than any other club. Biereth's predatory instincts will be necessary to break this dismal streak.

Benfica x Monaco Team News

As a result of Florentino's three yellow cards in the Champions League, Benfica will be without their own number six for Tuesday's match, while Monaco will be without holding midfielder Al-Musrati due to a red card in the first leg.

Worse still, neither Angel Di Maria nor Tomas Araujo are anticipated to be able to play in the second leg due to injuries sustained in the first. Di Maria came in for the injured Araujo before being replaced himself due to a muscle ailment.

Both players are currently sidelined due to injury, joining Alexander Bah (ACL), Fredrik Aursnes (knee), Manu Silva (ACL), and Renato Sanches (muscle). It's worth noting that Benfica cannot call on goalscorer Bruma, who is serving a continental ban stemming from his red card in Braga's Europa League match against Union SG last month.

Meanwhile, a one-game suspension is the inevitable consequence of Al-Musrati's illogical sending-off in the first leg. Hutter will kick himself for losing Denis Zakaria and Vanderson, who received milestone yellow cards last Wednesday.

Christian Marissa has returned from his suspension for last week's loss, which is good news for discipline. Still, Aleksandr Golovin, Jordan Teze (unspecified), and Folarin Balogun (shoulder) are all injured.

Due to injuries to Vanderson and Teze, Thilo Kehrer will likely start at right back on Tuesday night. Takumi Minamino may have earned a starting spot after helping the team to a 5-0 thrashing of Nantes.

Our predictions

Ful-time draw @ 4.10 on Sky247.ng

If Monaco wants to keep their Champions League hopes alive, they need to play an attacking style, and the Biereth-inspired visitors should be able to capitalize on their hosts' injury problems.

On the other hand, Hutter will face a severely depleted midfield in the return match. Thus, Benfica should be able to respond with a retaliatory strike and advance from the intense encounter.

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