The Daily Star Ireland
Benfica is having a solid campaign, currently holding 14th place with three wins and two losses. Two weeks ago, the Lisbon club secured a 3-2 victory against Monaco, bouncing back from defeats in the 3rd and 4th rounds. Positioned well in the race for qualification, Benfica is five points ahead of the 25th-placed team, the first to be eliminated.
With three matches left, their goal is to break into the top 8, which is just one point away, to secure direct qualification for the Champions League round of 16. Domestically, Benfica is 3rd, trailing Sporting and Porto. Since their win in Monaco, they’ve faced Arouca and hosted Guimarães.
Bologna’s dream of Champions League qualification has become a difficult journey. After a goalless draw against Shakhtar on September 18, they suffered four consecutive defeats. They currently sit in 33rd place, five points away from the 24th spot, the last that offers a playoff ticket. The entire club hopes for perfect results in the remaining three matches, although this might not be sufficient if other teams vying for qualification also perform well.
Bologna finally scored their first goal of the competition on the 5th matchday against Lille, where they lost 2-1. In Serie A, Bologna moved up the standings with good results before the November break, currently sitting in 8th place before hosting Venice and traveling to Turin to face Juventus.
For Benfica, Sanches, on loan from PSG and frequently injured, is likely to miss out again, as he did two weeks ago in Monaco. It’s uncertain if German full-back Beste and rarely-used attackers Prestianni and Gouveia will recover from their injuries.
No Benfica player is suspended, but starters Carreras and Aursnes risk suspension if they receive yellow cards on Wednesday. Aktürkoglu is Benfica’s top scorer in the Champions League with three goals, although he didn’t score in Monaco where Di Maria, with 9 goals and 5 assists across all competitions, provided two assists.
Bologna will still be without midfielder Aebischer, who has been injured for two months, and Moroccan winger El Azzouzi, who has yet to play this season and remains sidelined. Striker Cambiaghi, who suffered a serious injury in August, is also out. Swedish player Karlsson, who has scored in Serie A but is often a substitute, is uncertain after missing the previous game against Lille.
The only goal scored in the competition came from starting central defender Lucumi. Offensive players Orsolini, Dallinga, and Ndoye aim to find the net, with Orsolini having scored five times in Serie A, while Dallinga and Ndoye, who came from Toulouse and Nice respectively, are yet to score this season.
Prediction
When Bologna plays away in the Champions League, excitement is usually limited, with one of the teams failing to score in 14 of their last 19 away games. Similarly, Benfica’s home games at this level often see only one team scoring, with both teams on target in just two of their last nine matches. A similar outcome seems likely.
Prediction: Benfica 2 : 0 Bologna
