Benfica host RB Leipzig in the second fixture of Group G of the Champions League

In the second fixture of  Group G, Benfica host RB Leipzig in a game that will be vital and may determine the group winner.

RB Leipzig currently sit top of the Bundesliga and are unbeaten in all competitions with the German side looking very strong early on in the season.

Benfica currently sit second in Portugal’s Primiera Liga one point behind league leaders Famalicao, but Benfica also look very strong early on and will definetely pose threats to Leipzig’s defence.

Team news

Benfica have a lengthy injury list for this time of the season, which Chiquinho added to when he limped out of the defeat to Porto. Benfica is also without Gabriel, Gedson, German Conti and David Tavares – all of whom are yet to feature this season – while Carlos Vinicius is also sidelined.

Leipzig will be without Tyler Adams and Hannes Wolf with the former sidelined since early August due to a metatarsal injury and the latter breaking his ankle on international duty with Austria Under-21s.

Benfica manager  Bruno Lage expects ‘a very competitive game’ as he speaks to the press ahead pf tomorrow’s fixture.

“A very competitive game. For what the opponent is worth, essentially. At the moment he is the first in the German league, last year he had an excellent championship and, at this moment, an excellent start. The last game is proof of what our opponent is worth.

“They are a very competitive team that can play in many systems: they started with a line of 5 and ended up playing in 4x4x2 against Bayern Munich, with a good performance, besides a good result, a draw. It’s a tough opponent, so are we and we hope it’s a very competitive game. Above all, for our part, we want to make a good game, a good showing and beat it, which is our main goal.”

RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann expects his team to continue with the momentum and go onto win their first Champions League game this campaign.

“We’ve come up with an idea and some other options that will hopefully work. We want to use the momentum from the second half of the Bayern game. Our goal is clear: to win and have a good start to the group stage.

“SL Benfica are a big club in both Portugal and Europe. They are a good team a range of offensive players that are hard to tackle. They push forward with their wingers and create a lot of chances on the flanks.”

Head-to-head

This will be the first time these two meet in this competition with the winner of this match potentially going on to win this group.

Expected line-ups

Benfica XI – Vlachodimos; Almeida, Dias, Ferreira, Grimaldo; Pizzi, Luis, Taarabt, Silva; De Tomas; Seferovic

RB Leipzig XI – Gulacsi; Mukiele, Konate, Orban; Klostermann, Laimer, Forsberg, Halstenberg; Sabitzer, Poulsen, Werner