PREVIEW: Mourinho’s Benfica host Bayer Leverkusen in clash of Champions League strugglers | OneFootball

Benfica will host Bayer Leverkusen at the Estádio da Luz, with both sides looking to kickstart poor Champions League campaigns.

José Mourinho’s side could have scarcely begun their Champions League campaign in worse fashion. In their first outing they surrendered a two goal lead against Azerbaijani side Qarabağ and eventually lost 3-2. That was the last Champions League outing for manager Bruno Lage before he was replaced by Mourinho.

However, the iconic manager did little to arrest the slide; his emotional return to Stanford Bridge ended in a 1-0 defeat against Enzo Maresca’s side. Despite the slim scoreline, the game was more than comfortable for Chelsea and the same can be said in their next game against English opposition. At St. James’ Park, Benfica were comfortably dispatched by Newcastle United following a poor second half display. This third defeat leaves the Portuguese side second from bottom in the Champions League table without a win or a point to their name.

There has been reason for the Portuguese side to be positive when it comes to tonight’s match up. Benfica have tightened up defensively and are on a run of seven victories in their last 10 games domestically. It remains key that they transfer over their now imperious league form to the Champions League if they are to have any hopes of reaching the play-off spots.

Their visitors are chasing some form of response following their defeat to Bayern Munich at the weekend. It was new manager Kasper Hjulmand’s first domestic defeat in charge since taking over from Erik ten Hag at the beginning of the season. Die Werkself currently sit fifth in the table, however their last Champions League outing was a 7-2 thrashing at the hands of holders Paris Saint-German. This defeat equalled the entirety of last seasons conceded tally in the league phase.

Last season, they were eliminated in the round of 16 and they now face a race to qualify for the play-off spots and back-to-back knockout rounds after failing to win any of their opening three games. Leverkusen do have strong away form on their side for the majority of this season, having won four, drawn twice and lost just once across all competitions away from home.

Benfica do have some injury concerns across their squad heading into tonight’s fixture. Players such as Alexander Bah, Manu Silva and Bruma are all unavailable for this fixture as they continue to recover from long term injuries. Fredrik Aursnes has had to be deployed as a makeshift right back in the absence of Benfica’s main defenders. He will retain this position with tonight’s game being too soon for Amar Dedić to return to the fold.

Bayer Leverkusen have several injury concerns throughout their squad; Exequiel Palacios, Lucas Vázquez, Axel Tape, Equi Fernandez and Nathan Tella are all expected to miss tonight’s fixture. Club captain Robert Andrich is still suspended following his dismissal against PSG.

Predicted line-ups

SLB: Trubin; Aursnes, Otamendi, Araújo, Dahl; Barrenechea, Ríos; Schjelderup, Sudakov, Lukebakio; Pavlidis