We’re now getting to the pointy end of the Champions League qualifying phase as Tuesday night brings us the 2nd legs of the play-offs and features the tasty clash between Dutch hosts, PSV, and Portuguese visitors, Benfica, at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven.
PSV find themselves a goal down ahead of this return leg in their own backyard following last week’s 2-1 defeat at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica in Lisbon but that has been PSV’s only slip-up in their previous 19 matches in all competitions.
Supporters: '𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘵, 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘵, 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘵!'@OlivierBoscagli: 💥☄𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒐, 𝑶𝒍𝒊! 👏#PSVCAM pic.twitter.com/WkmPF71sgT— PSV (@PSV) August 23, 2021
Supporters: '𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘵, 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘵, 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘵!'@OlivierBoscagli: 💥☄𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒐, 𝑶𝒍𝒊! 👏#PSVCAM pic.twitter.com/WkmPF71sgT
Having won 15 of these last 19 matches overall, PSV will still feel confident about their chances of overturning this single-goal deficit at home on Tuesday night and prior to last week’s defeat, the Dutch hosts had won each of their previous four ties in the Champions League.
Victories over Turkish side, Galatasaray, 7-2 on aggregate was followed by a solid 4-0 win on aggregate against Danish outfit, Midtjylland, so despite the way loss last week, PSV know they are more than capable of turning this tie on its head.
Benfica secured a 2-0 win away from home at Gil Vicente in the Portuguese Primeira Liga on the weekend which also became the visitors’ sixth win on the trot in all competitions.
So, they too will be in a confident frame of mind ahead of this 2nd leg in Eindhoven on Tuesday night.
In the previous round of the Champions League qualifying phase, Benfica had seen off the challenge from Russian Premier League side, Spartak Moscow, with a solid 4-0 win on aggregate, winning 2-0 in each home and away leg.
However, the bigger picture shows that Benfica have won just six of their last 14 ties at this level with five of these six victories being achieved on home soil at their Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, while results away from home have been far less convincing.
Benfica have managed to win just one of their previous seven ties on their travels in the Champions League which was the aforementioned 2-0 win at Spartak Moscow but five defeats within this sequence suggests the Portuguese visitors could well be happy in hanging on for a draw here on Tuesday night.