Benfica take on RB Leipzig in UEFA Champions League Group G at the Estadio da Luz on Tuesday.
This is only Leipzig’s second appearance in the Champions League after participating in the 2017/18 edition of the tournament.
Leipzig failed to make it out of their group in in the 2017/18 season, and finished third behind Besiktas and Porto with a record of W2-D1-L3.
The German club have come a long way in a short period of time and they are likely to be far more competitive this time around.
On the other hand, Benfica have a rich history in this competition and won back-to-back European cups in 1961 and 1962.
However, the Portuguese giants haven’t reached a final since 1990 and their glory days on the European stage are a distant memory.
Benfica failed to progress from the group stage last season and will be desperate to improve on their recent performances in this competition.
They come into this match having lost just one of their five Primeira Liga matches this season (W4-D0-L1).
Midfielder Pizzi is enjoying a fantastic goal scoring run, and sits at the top of the goals scoring charts in the Portuguese top-flight with 6 goals.
He will be looking to carry his excellent domestic form onto the European stage, and could cause Leipzig's defense all sorts of problems.
RB Leipzig have also made an impressive start to the season and are sitting pretty at the top of the Bundesliga table.
They picked up an impressive draw against champions Bayern Munich last time out, and won their three league matches prior to that.
Timo Werner is undoubtedly Leipzig’s danger man and the German striker already has 5 league goals from 4 matches.
Benfica and Leipzig sit at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of European experience. However, there is very little separating the two teams nowadays.
Final preparations in Lisbon before our #ChampionsLeague campaign kicks off tomorrow ✨🔴⚪ #DieRotenBullen #MissionChampionsLeague #SLBRBL pic.twitter.com/uS81KW52j4— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) September 16, 2019
Final preparations in Lisbon before our #ChampionsLeague campaign kicks off tomorrow ✨🔴⚪ #DieRotenBullen #MissionChampionsLeague #SLBRBL pic.twitter.com/uS81KW52j4
Benfica have been competing consistently in the Champions League for decades, while this is only Leipzig’s second campaign in Europe’s top club competition.
The two teams have only met on one previous occasion with Leipzig claiming a 2-0 victory over Benfica in a pre-season friendly in 2017.
With that being said, you can’t read too much into their last meeting, and Benfica come into this match as favorites.
Forebet predicts that while both teams will score, Benfica will claim the victory.