These two Group A participants are both seen as likely title challengers in their domestic leagues, however, things have not got off to the best of starts for either of them with neither of them sitting top of their respective league tables. In terms of the Champions League, it looks like these two will be battling it out for the second spot qualification behind Manchester United.
Despite an unbeaten start to the season, Benfica are currently down in third in the Portuguese Primeira Liga and two points off top spot. However, with them being the reigning champions, as well as the champions for the last four years, you would expect them to be up there at the end of the campaign. On the European front, they are favourites to finish second in this group ahead of rivals CSKA Moscow, making it imperative that they win this opening match.
Rui Vitoria’s side have been brilliant at both ends of the pitch so far this campaign with 12 goals scored and just three conceded. However, their defence has been a bit wobbly of late with no clean sheet in either of their last two outings.
Aguias have a 100% home record so far this season which of course will give them confidence going into Tuesday’s match. Additionally, they have not lost a competitive home match in this calendar year which makes this match an even more daunting task for CSKA. Furthermore, they have only suffered three Champions League defeats at Estadio da Luz since October 2012.
After CSKA’s disappointing performances in Europe in the last few seasons under former boss Leonid Slutsky, there is a lot of pressure on new manager Viktor Goncharenkoto perform better this time around. They are currently third in the Russian Premier League following a win away at Amkar Perm on Friday.
After a blistering start to the season with goals aplenty, the Army Men have now reverted to type and gone back to their conservative methods. This is demonstrated by the fact they have kept four clean sheets in their five last competitive outings. However, this defensive approach tends to cost them in the final third and it is no wonder that they have only found the back of the net four times in those aforementioned five matches.
CSKA have done well on their travels so far this term with five wins and one draw in six competitive away matches. However, they have been atrocious outside of Moscow in recent European campaigns. Since beating Manchester City in the Group Stage back in November 2014, CSKA have taken just one point from a possible 18.
There is a lot of pressure on Benfica going into this match as it is a must-win game for them if they want to finish second. However, I expect them to handle this pressure well – especially on home soil and against a side with a terrible away record in Europe. Benfica to Win and Over 1.5 Goals Total is priced at 11/10.