UEFA Champions League: Bayern Munich vs. Benfica Preview, Odds, Prediction

Bayern Munich awaits Benfica in one of the most interesting UCL games on Tuesday night. The Bavarians had a turbulent week behind them, while on the other side, Benfica failed to win in the domestic league, and they now have to get back on the right track. Though, the Eagles have the toughest possible challenge ahead of them, one of the most dominant teams in Europe, Bayern Munich. It’s needless to say anything about Bayern’s current form, despite them having a few slips along the way. When things get tough, the Bavarians are at the highest possible level.

Preview

Bayern Munich (-500) had a very interesting seven days. At first, they lost on Tuesday against Borussia Monchengladbach in the German Cup with 5-0. Yes, you’ve read it well, 5-0. But the machinery from Allianz Arena quickly got back on the winning course, trashing Union Berlin on the road, 2-5.

Just to remind you that the team from Berlin plays in the UEFA Europa League and that they haven’t lost at home in one year.

As for Bayern, they had 11 straight games with over 2.5 goals. The last five were with four or more goals, and if we look back beyond that period, we will see that Bayern’s matches are mostly with four or five scores. That is simply the way they play in the past 10 years, and as long as they have Robert Lewandowski up front, that won’t change.

Benfica (+1100) played against Estoril on the road on Saturday and won only one point, 1-1. With this unexpected result, the two-time European champs aren’t the league leaders no more, which might be something that disturbed their morale.

The additional problem is the injury list, as Benfica has multiple big-time players out or questionable for this event. That will for sure create problems for Jorge Jesus.

We need to point out that only one of their latest five road matches ended without both teams scoring. Even though Benfica knows how to defend and play tactical, the defense isn’t that confident away from stadium La Luz.

Latest News

Eric Choupo-Moting, Leon Goretzka, Lucas Hernandez and Sven Urlich are all out for this game. Kingsley Coman is questionable.

As for Benfica, Andre Gomes Almeida is injured, Haris Seferovic, Dil Dias, Rodrigo Pinho, Gedson Fernandes and Valentin Lazaro are all expected to miss this match.

Head to Head Games

The latest game in Lisbon saw the guests winning 0-4. All the goals were scored in the second half, to be precise in the final 20 minutes, when Bayern broke the hosts’ lock.

Sane netted a brace, Robert Lewandowski one goal, and Everton hit his own net.

Prediction

There is no way for the guests to get out without at least two or three goals in their net. Even though Bayern secured the knockout stage, the German champs won’t miss a chance to boost the morale and put another big name on their victim list. Our pick for this event is Bayern to win with a -1.5 handicap. The odds on that are -195.

Pick: Bayern -1.5 -195

 

Here are the previews for other UEFA Champions League matches:

• Atalanta vs. Manchester United
• Borussia Dortmund vs. Ajax
• Wolfsburg vs. Red Bull Salzburg
• Liverpool vs. Atletico Madrid