A thrilling Champions League encounter is on the cards as an out-of-form Inter face Portuguese giants today at the Estadio da Luz in the first leg of the two-legged quarter-finals.Â
Benfica will hope to not carry forward their woes from the derby defeat to Porto in their last match in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. Goalkeeper Diogo Costa was forced to concede an own goal in the 10th minute and despite taking an early lead, the Encarnados faltered to a resilient Porto side as strikes from Mateus Uribe and Mehdi Taremi sealed the day for the visitors. Today’s hosts hold a strong lead at the top of their league as they clear by 7 points of second-placed Porto.Â
Meanwhile, Inter approach this match on the back of a six-game winless run in which they have only managed to score three goals. A massive job lies in the hands of manager Simone Inzaghi to gain control of their top-four hopes in the league and also cruise forward in the Champions League. Due to their recent form, the Nerazzurri lost their place in the top four and are now a point behind 4th-placed Roma. They will hope to end the game in a draw in Portugal and finish the job in their own backyard, the San Siro in the 2nd leg.Â
Here are predicted line-ups from Sky Italia:
Benfica (4-2-3-1): Vlachodimos; Gilberto, Morato, Antonio Silva, Grimaldo; Florentino, Chiquinho; Aursnes, Rafa Silva, Joao Mario; Ramos.
Inter (3-5-2): Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro Martinez, Dzeko
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Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN
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