UEFA Women's Champions League Preview: SL Benfica vs. FC Bayern | OneFootball

FC Bayern will travel to Lisbon to face SC Benfica when the Women's Champions League resumes on Wednesday. The Portuguese side beat Juventus away from home with Marit Bratberg’s brace when the league phase started last week, while FC Bayern squandered a two-goal lead at home against WSL champions Manchester City.

The Bavarians also had a tough Sunday afternoon in the DFB-Pokal when they relied on two late goals from center-back Vanessa Gilles for a comeback victory over 2. Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach. José Barcala’s side will face a bigger test in the Round of 16 with the home tie against Bayer Leverkusen.

The Frauen-Bundesliga giants have won every domestic game so far, but their recent performances are far from convincing. Against Manchester City, last season's semi-finalists had contrasting halves of football. After their dominant first-half showing that could've seen them lead by a greater margin, they were totally outplayed in the second 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, Benfica started their season with four victories in all competitions. After beating Porto 5-1 in the Super Cup, they won their opening two Liga BPI encounters without conceding a goal. They already bettered last season's winless Champions League campaign with the three points in Turin last week.

Benfica held Bayern to a goalless draw in their first Women's Champions League group stage match five years ago. Bayern won the reverse fixture 4-0, and they also did the double over the Portuguese giants in the following season.

Georgia Stanway, who joined Arsenal after the end of her Bayern contract this summer, helped them to a comeback 3-2 victory in Lisbon before Klara Bühl’s brace sealed a 2-0 victory for FC Bayern in the most recent head-to-head encounter.

Wednesday's game will be played at the iconic Estádio da Luz, which was the venue for the final when the men's Bayern team last won the Champions League in a COVID-19-hit season.

Predicted Lineups

Benfica: Pauels; Bratberg, Testen, Demehin, Amado; Csiki, Pauleta ©; Sousa Alves, Møller, Davidson; Brennskag-Dorsin

FC Bayern: Mahmutovic; Kett, Gilles, Viggosdottir ©, Gwinn; Amani, Tanikawa; Bühl, Harder, Dallmann; Damnjanović