On Wednesday, 8 November, as part of the 4th round of the Champions League group stage, Copenhagen will welcome Benfica on their home turf. The "Eagles" will be eager to take revenge on the Basques after suffering a minimal defeat of 0:1 two weeks ago.
Real Sociedad: Remiro; Elustondo, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Munoz; Mendez, Zubimendi, Merino; Kubo, Oyarzabal, Barrenetxea.
Benfica: Trubin; Silva, Otamendi, Morato; Neves, Mario, Luis, Aursnes; Silva, Cabral, Di Maria.
The match will take place in San Sebastian at the Reale Arena.
Real Sociedad is a real surprise of the current European campaign, and the team has every chance to practically secure their way into the Champions League playoff this Wednesday. Leveling in points with Internazionale Milano in the quartet D standings, the white-and-blues boast of 7 points gathered. Thanks to an attractive style of play and a refreshed line-up, the Basques began the season well, eliciting admiration from both their fans and the sports press.
This past weekend, the hosts welcomed Barcelona to their home ground, and they unfortunately let slip a draw – conceding a goal from Araujo in the 90th minute of the match (0:1). As a result, Sociedad dropped again outside of the top seven Spanish teams and will try to make amends to their fans.
In general, Imanol Alguacil's charges are participating in the Champions League for only the third time in their history and have won just five out of their last 17 home matches in European cups. The Basque's injury list hasn't grown since the last match.
Following a promising performance in the Champions League last season, Lisbon's Benfica is showing a far less bright side in the current campaign. Roger Schmidt's charges start the second round with zero points after suffering a third consecutive defeat against Real Sociedad two weeks ago. Failing to score a single goal, the reigning Portuguese champions recently overcame Arouca (2:0) in the Portuguese Cup and topped Chaves (0:2) in the national championship last weekend, which should add an extra spark of emotion to the players.
The match was decided on the precise strikes of Fredrik Aursnes and Joao Mario, and now the capital's team still trails three points behind the league leader, Sporting Lisbon, whom they are set to meet this Saturday. In fact, the "Eagles" are on the brink of being knocked out of the CL group for the seventh time in the last 11 years. Benfica Lisbon will be counting on Angel Di Maria's return (6 goals). Having managed to score in the second leg of the Cup, the Argentine represents the main attacking threat for the guests.
The first match in the history of these teams took place two weeks ago in Lisbon, and at that time, Sociedad came out on top with a score of 0:1.
The Lisboetas need to score and win, otherwise an early knockout at the group stage will be practically guaranteed. However, it won't be easy: Sociedad has been practically impenetrable since the start of this European campaign (only 1 goal conceded). Furthermore, the Basques are perfect on counter-attacks - and the "Eagles" will sooner or later have to start opening up. My prediction is a victory for the home team.
However, I do not entirely believe that the Lisboetas will fail to score at least once on Wednesday – Benfica's line-up is up to the task. My prediction is both teams to score.
Both teams advocate an attacking style of play and will conduct their attacks through the flanks. In the first match, the teams took a total of 10 corners – I believe they will replicate this figure.
Neither team is known for their aggressiveness on the field, so it's unlikely the referee will show more than 4.5 yellow cards.
I'll bet on an exact score of 2:1 in favor of Sociedad.
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