Monaco travel to Portugal looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Benfica in their Champions League play-off on Tuesday, and our match preview includes the latest team news and predicted lineups ahead of the action.
Benfica vs AS Monaco Preview
Ligue 1 side Monaco head to the Portuguese capital to take on Benfica in the second leg of their Champions League play-off on Tuesday evening, where they’ll be looking to bounce back after losing 1-0 in the first leg.
Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis scored the sole goal for the Liga Portugal title challengers last week, netting just three minutes into the second half to take his goal tally to 15 for the campaign.
A lovely chip from Vangelis Pavlidis grants Benfica the lead over Monaco! đȘ”
đș @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/bqiw5Sv6pF
â Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 12, 2025
Also, Les Rouge et Blanc defensive midfielder Mutassim Al-Musrati was shown a red card just four minutes after Pavlidis’ opener, therefore he is ineligible to feature in the second leg at the Estadio da Luz. Vanderson and Denis Zakaria are also suspended for the visitors, while Florentino Luis is suspended for the hosts.
Benfica built on last week’s victory with a narrow 1-0 win over Santa Clara in the Portuguese top-flight on Saturday, with Bruma grabbing the all-important goal. It leaves them in second place in the league table, two points behind leaders Sporting. Bruno Lage’s side have now won five consecutive matches across all competitions.
Monaco, meanwhile, bounced back in some style, coming from behind to beat 10-man Nantes 7-1 to maintain their fourth-place standing in the table. January signing Mika Biereth contributed with a hat-trick, along with goals from Takumi Minamino and Eliesse Ben Seghir, as well as a brace from Nigerian youngster George Ilenikhena.
Benfica Team News
As previously mentioned, Florentino Luis is unavailable for the hosts through suspension, and both Angel Di Maria (muscular) and Tomas Araujo (unspecified) are also expected to miss out after being withdrawn with injuries last week.
Alexander Bah (knee), Fredrik Aursnes (knee), Manu Silva (knee) and Renato Sanches (muscular) are also ruled out, while Bruma is ineligible through suspension after being red carded for Braga in the Europa League last month.
AS Monaco Team News
Al-Musrati, Zakaria and Vanderson are all suspended for the trip to Lisbon, but Christian Mawissa is eligible to make his return after serving a one-match ban in last week’s defeat.
In terms of injuries, Aleksandr Golovin (adductor), Jordan Teze (unspecified), Soungoutou Magassa (facial) and ex-Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun (shoulder) are all expected to miss out.
Benfica vs AS Monaco Predicted Lineups
Benfica Predicted Lineup:
Trubin; Santos, Silva, Otamendi, Carreras; Barreiro, Kokcu; Schjelderup, Amdouni, Akturkoglu; Pavlidis
AS Monaco Predicted Lineup:
Majecki; Diatta, Salisu, Kehrer, Henrique; Akliouche, Camara, Minamino, Ben Seghir; Embolo, Biereth
Benfica vs AS Monaco Prediction
The UK’s best football betting sites favour Benfica to claim victory in Tuesday’s second leg at around 5/6, while a draw is priced at 31/10 and a Monaco win is priced at around 11/4.
We at SportsCasting, based on recent form favouring the hosts, agree with the bookmakers’ assessment of the tie and are backing As Ăguias to seal a narrow 2-1 victory to advance to the last 16 with a 3-1 aggregate triumph.
Prediction: Benfica 2-1 (3-1 agg) AS Monaco
