UEFA Champions League Preview: Benfica v Olympique Lyonnais

In a tough Group B, Benfica find themselves in a tougher situation. After three matches, Lyon sit on nine points, Schalke sit on six, and Benfica sit on three. Wtihout a win tonight at Estadio da Luz, Benfica will be in serious trouble. Without at least a draw, they will be all but eliminated if Schalke do what is expected of them and defeat Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

The good news for Benfica is that Estadio da Luz has been a bit of a fortress both domestically and in Europe over the last couple years, other than their embarrassing opening day slip-up against Academia de Coimbra. The bad news for Benfica is that they will be without their star target man, Oscar Cardozo. Talented youngster Alan Kardec figures to start in his place.

Lyon have been unstoppable in UEFA Champions League action so far, taking maximum points from all of their matches, but they have been less than impressive in Ligue 1. Their weekend win over Sochaux took them to ninth, but a team of Lyon’s talent should never be outside of the top five in France for an extended period of time. Their draw against last placed Arles on October 24th was downright embarrassing.

Les Gones have injury problems of their own. Jeremy Toulalan, Ederson, Cesar Delgado, Aly Cisshoko, and Lisandro are all out with injuries. Still, they have the ability to field a very solid team, though the bench might look a little thin and be littered with youngsters.

Between Lyon’s advantage in midfield and Benfica’s home field advantage, as well as some guys who can create goals out of nothing, this looks like a fairly even affair. Benfica will stay undefeated in Europe at home, but won’t get the three points they need to feel good about advancing to the knockout stages.

Prediction:

Benfica 1-1 Lyon