The draw for the quarterfinals of the Champions League, in which fate was also decided until the final in Istanbul, gave wings to Benfica, Inter, Naples and Milan to dream of doing something big in this edition of the Champions League, after to have avoided the European ‘coconuts’ that go through the other part of the quadrant.
For its part, Benfica has established itself as the revelation of this Champions League, and has a unique opportunity to reach heights that it has not seen since the last century in the highest European competition. Dominators of the Portuguese league since the first day with a seven-point advantage over Porto, Roger Schmidt’s pupils reach the first leg of the quarterfinals with winning dynamics.
The Eagles easily got rid of Bruges in the round of 16, with an aggregate result of 7-1 and with a brilliant performance by Gonçalo Ramos and Joao Mario, the flagships of a Benfica that has surprised Europe this season with a showy and offensive game . Without going any further, they are the second highest scoring team in the competition with 23 goals, only behind Napoli and surpassing important teams such as Bayern, Manchester City or Real Madrid.
Beyond Gonçalo Ramos and Joao Mario, with three and six goals respectively in the Champions League, Benfica has other players who are giving an outstanding performance this season, such as Rafa Silva, David Neres or the Greek goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.
The Eagles have hardly noticed the absence of Enzo Fernández, an Argentine midfielder who went to Chelsea for a figure close to 120 million euros and who was one of the pillars of the Portuguese team. Schmidt has been able to fill that position well with the Portuguese Florentino Luis, who already played in the League for Getafe.
The Inter, in low hours
The situation of Inter Milan is clearly opposite to that of Benfica. Simone Inzaghi’s men are 5th in Serie A, 23 points behind the head and with qualifying for the Champions League complicated by the level shown by the ‘neroazurri’, who have only achieved one victory in the last eight games, against the improvement Notable from Rome and Milan.
They suffered a lot to bring Porto down in the round of 16, and the Italians entrust themselves to their offensive duo made up of Lautaro Martínez and Lukaku, who this season have hardly been able to play together due to the Belgian’s long-term injury.
There is only one precedent between the two sets. It was the 1965 European Cup final. On that occasion, Inter beat Benfica 1-0 and became champions for the second time in their history.
-Lineups:
Benfica: Vlachodimos, Gilberto, Antonio Silva, Felipe Morato, Grimaldo, Florentino Luis, Chiquinho, Joao Mario, Fredrik Aursnes, Rafa and Gonçalo Ramos.
Inter Milan: Onana, Dumfries, Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni, Dimarco, Brozovic, Barella, Mkhitaryan, Lautaro Martínez and Dzeko.
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Time and stadium: 9:00 p.m. Stadium of Light.
Television: Movistar Champions League 2.
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