Benfica’s start to the domestic championship cannot be considered successful. However, under the leadership of Bruno Lage, who replaced Roger Schmidt at the beginning of September, they have secured three victories in three rounds.
The Lisbon team’s attacking play has become more lethal under the new manager. In every match, they have scored two goals and in 75% of these cases, they netted even more. The trio of Angel Di Maria, Vangelis Pavlidis and Kerem Aktürkoğlu get along well and easily find the back of the net.
Benfica have no notable squad issues before the second round of the Champions League. Danish right-back Alexander Bah suffered an injury in the match against Crvena Zvezda, but he has already fully recovered and will participate in the upcoming game.
Last weekend, Diego Simeone’s team played a fiery derby against Real Madrid where they avoided a defeat thanks to a late goal from Ángel Correa. The draw helped Atlético maintain the points gap with their city rivals.
Diego Simeone has focused on the defence, which has long been Atletico’s trump card. This season, the visitors have only conceded more than one goal once, and they have kept a clean sheet in five of the previous eight matches. A high concentration level and physical readiness should also be added to Atletico’s advantages.
In terms of team news, Pablo Barrios and César Azpilicueta are sidelined due to injuries, but Koke is expected to return to the starting lineup. Marcos Llorente is likely to shift to the right-back position.
Bet hereAtletico are considered the favourites, but playing against Benfica at the Estadio da Luz is a challenge for many teams.
The Eagles last lost at home almost a year ago in October 2023, when they were beaten by Real Sociedad. Since then, Benfica have played 24 official matches at home in various tournaments, including European competitions, and only drew 5 times.
Atlético Madrid, on the other hand, are not playing well on the road. In the last nine away matches at European tournaments, Atletico managed to achieve only one victory, which is a troublesome statistic before the clash with Benfica.
Given these stats, we think that Benfica won’t play as the underdogs and get their chances in the attack. Our prediction for this match is Benfica or draw.
We anticipate that in the away match against Benfica, Diego Simeone will return to his usual defensive style. This system helped Atletico to reach the ultimate stages of European competitions and win trophies.
If we look at the previous encounters featuring Atletico, five of the last six matches in La Liga ended with less than three goals. Even in the home match against Leipzig in the Champions League, where the Colchoneros played more aggressively than usual, the third goal was scored only in the 90th minute.
Benfica will wait for their chances and focus on bolstering their defence. Our selection for Benfica vs Atletico will be – under 2.5 goals.
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