Benfica take on the visitors PAOK at the Estadio da Luz in the first leg match of the UEFA Champions League play-offs. The match will be played in Lisbon on Tuesday, August 21st.
In the third qualification round of the Champions League Benfica were able to knock out Fenerbahce. Now their opponents will be PAOK and the chances of the Aguias of going through to the group stage are very high. The team has a great squad who are not worse than the Greek side at least. The financial state of Benfica is very good too. The undeniable advantage for the Portuguese for the upcoming fixture will be their Eurocups experience. Furthermore, they have been showing really good performances in front of their home crowd lately. The Encarnados won fourteen of their seventeen played home matches in the Primeira Liga last season. Benfica were victorious in the first tour of the new season in the Premeira Liga too. It`s worth noting that the Aguias have played three International Champions Cup fixtures this summer losing only to Lyon and drawing against Juventus and Borussia Dortmund in the normal time there.
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PAOK had been able to knock out Basel from the Champions League in the second qualification round and Spartak Moscow in the third qualification round. Even though those results were tremendous for the Two Headed Eagle of the North their actual playing style was not so good. The team was losing to Spartak Moscow with a 0-2 score by the 17th minute of their first leg match in front of their home crowd but finally found the strength in them and beat their opponents with a 3-2 score. The second leg match against the People`s Team in Moscow ended with a 0-0 score. The new season of the Greek Super League has not started yet and that has been a disadvantage for the Black and Whites so far.
It is likely that PAOK will be happy to draw against Benfica in the first leg match. However, the Aguias have been looking very strong on their home field recently and it will be hard for the Two Headed Eagle of the North to achieve their goal. The Portuguese side also has a lot of high class players in their squad such as Ferreyra, Salvio, Semedo, Servi. Benfica will probably score at least once in the upcoming fixture and win the match. The teams faced each other in the UEFA Europa League four years ago and Benfica beat PAOK with a 3-0 score in front of their home crowd back then.
Prediction for the match: Benfica to win.
