The Portuguese giants Benfica host Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Tuesday night.
Benfica reached the knockout stages after finishing second in Group B behind Napoli. They lost both their matches against Napoli, while 8 points came from two wins against Dynamo Kiev and a pair of draws against Besiktas.
The team managed by Rui Vitoria can boast of an excellent home record this season. They picked up 14 wins and 3 draws from their 18 matches in all competitions at the Estádio da Luz. The lone defeat was against Napoli in the group stage of the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Dortmund won their group with a 2 point cushion over LaLiga giants Real Madrid. They were unbeaten and raked up 4 wins and 2 draws, both coming against Madrid. Thomas Tuchel’s men are the highest scoring team in this season’s group phase with 21 goals, one more than what Barcelona scored. However, 14 of those came in two legs against Polish opposition Legia Warsaw.
Dortmund were on a 9 match unbeaten run until the surprise defeat to Darmstadt in the Bundesliga fixture this weekend. However, 4 from the 9 matches are draws, which had dent their chances of challenging Bayern for the league title.
Benfica vs Borussia Dortmund: Head-to-head stats
The lone meeting between the two sides in a UEFA competition has to be dated back to the 1963/64 season. It was in the two-legged final of European Champion Clubs Cup. Benfica won the first leg 2-1, but Dortmund thrashed them 5-0 in the return leg to overturn the deficit.
Benfica’s record against German clubs in 42 matches is 12 wins, 14 draws and 16 defeats. However, they can boast of a strong record at home against Bundesliga oppositions; with 10 wins, 8 draws and 2 losses from 20 games.
Dortmund were up against Portuguese oppositions on 10 occasions and have a good record with 7 wins and 3 losses. All 3 defeats have come away at Portugal during their 5 visits. However they had won in the latest 2 visits. Meanwhile, they can boast of a 100% win record at home.
Benfica vs Borussia Dortmund: Prediction
Borussia Dortmund haven’t looked that convincing since the start of the new year. And they seem to struggle at large while playing away from home, regardless of the quality of the opposition.
On the other hand, Benfica are one of the few sides who can trouble some big European sides while playing in front of their home fans. A free scoring Bayern came here last season and had to satisfy with a draw.
Therefore, we can expect a very fierce battle on Tuesday evening. And as you compare the recent form of both teams, Benfica look set to take at least a draw from this fixture.
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