Zenit will go for a third consecutive win over Benfica
The Champions League is back and so is the rivalry between SL Benfica and Zenit, who have met 4 times in this tournament since 2012. Zenit have won 3 of these 4 matches and another victory will be their third in a row against Benfica.
The lack of recent competitive football for Zenit raises some questions before this huge clash. The Russian side played their last domestic league game in early December 2015. Even tough, they’ve been keeping their good form in friendlies, a Champions League last 16 match is a completely different thing.
Before the winter break, Zenit went through the Champions League group stage with 5 wins in their 6 games. They showed efficient football and deservedly finished the group at 1st place. However, their Russian Premier League campaign is not going in the best way possible for them. The team of André Villas-Boas is currently 7 points behind the league leader.
Benfica enter this important match after huge disappointment last Friday against main rival, FC Porto. Benfica took the lead and created more chances, but eventually lost by 1:2. The team’s loyal and emotional supporters with certainly be alongside the players and will expect a Champions League win, even more after the aforementioned defeat.
Zenit seem determined to leave a mark in the European elite football, but they haven’t played a competitive game for more than two months, which is surely not in their favor. However, if they perform as they did in the group stage, they surely have a good chance to qualify further in the tournament.
Benfica are a really strong host, scoring an average of nearly 3 goals per home game. Zenit are also quite dangerous in attack and an over 2.5 goals match is likely to be seen.
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