Ex-Sporting man: only top Benfica can beat Real Madrid, it’ll be tough | OneFootball

Diego Capel, who played for Sporting between 2011 and 2015, gave a preview of Benfica’s match against Real Madrid in the eighth and final round of the regular phase of the Champions League, after which they will move on to the playoffs. The former winger of the Lions believes that the Reds can earn points against the competition’s most successful team.

"The truth is that Benfica are not at their best in Europe and will host a Real Madrid side that also needs to win to regain the confidence of their fans and even some players who are not in top form. It will be tough, but they will surely make things difficult for Real Madrid. Above all, given the image they have recently left in Europe, they have to play a great game if they want to win," said the Spaniard, currently 37 years old, in statements to Sport TV.

Advancing to the playoffs is extremely challenging. Besides having Real Madrid as their opponent, Benfica still depends on the results of other teams, and there are many matches. With all this, the chance of qualifying for the Champions League playoffs, according to the Opta supercomputer, is only 27%.

For the match against the "merengues", José Mourinho, who has already coached the club with 15 Champions League titles, will not be able to count on Rafa Silva and Sidny Cabral (not registered for the competition); as well as Samuel Soares, Alexander Bah, Nuno Félix, João Veloso, Richard Ríos, and Dodi Lukebakio, all of whom are injured.

The "Special One" will host Real Madrid next Wednesday, the 28th, starting at 8:00 pm, in the last round of the league phase of the biggest club competition in Europe. Going into the final match, the Reds are in 29th place, with six points, the result of victories against Ajax and Napoli.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.