The second legs of the Round of 32 ties in the UEFA Europa League will take place on Thursday 21st February. One of the later kick-offs sees Benfica welcome Galatasaray to the Estadio da Luz, with both teams hoping to book their place in the next round.
Benfica will be feeling the more confident having come away from the first leg in Istanbul with a 2-1 victory. Galatasaray know they need to score at least 2 goals to have any chance of making it through.
The home team have been in great form recently and that has coincided with the appointment of Bruno Lage as first team coach. Under his guidance, Benfica have won ten of their last eleven games, including each of the last six in all competitions.
Benfica defeated Desportivo Aves 3-0 away from home in the Portuguese league on the weekend and remain just a point behind the leaders in the chase for the title.
Having started the season in the Champions League, Benfica finished third in their group having achieved two wins from their six matches. The only team they defeated in the group was AEK Athens and Benfica would have hoped to push Ajax closer in the race for second place.
Trends show Benfica have lost one of their last eleven home games in all competitions, winning nine and their Europa League record is strong. Benfica have won seventeen of their last twenty home Europa League matches, losing just one.
Galatasaray will be disappointed to have lost the first leg at home and have it all to do in this game. They bounced back with a 4-1 away win the Turkish league on the weekend and that keeps them in second place.
Much like Benfica, Galatasaray have been tough to beat recently and trends show they have lost only one of their last fourteen matches in all competitions but the defeat came at the hands of Benfica. Galatasaray are undefeated in their last six competitive away games, winning four of them but they have all been domestic fixtures.
Galatasaray finished third in their Champions League group this season behind Porto and Schalke, picking up just a single win which was at home over bottom club, Lokomotiv Moscow. Trends show Galatasaray have won only one of their last six away Europa League games.
Looking ahead to the team news and Benfica have a long list of injury concerns including Eduardo Salvio, Germán Conti, Jardel, Ljubomir Fejsa, and Tyronne Ebuehi.
Galatasaray travel to Lisbon with doubts over the fitness of Tolga Cigerci but he is their only injury issue ahead of the match.
This is a game in which both teams could score, especially as Galatasaray know they need goals. However, Benfica proved to the better team in the first leg and there is no reason for that to change here so expect to see a home win.