The Champions League draw gods were not kind to Borussia Dortmund when the group stage was set, pitting them up against defending champions Real Madrid. But they stood up to that challenge and won their group, and they’ve been rewarded with a winnable Round of 16 draw. Benfica is certainly no slouch — they’re top of the Portuguese Primeira Liga — but BVB will see themselves as favorites in the knockout stage.
Benfica vs. Borussia Dortmund, Champions League draw 2016: BVB rewarded for group win
Dortmund will expect to go through after getting a bit of good fortune in the Champions League Round of 16 draw.
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Benfica are an interesting team and a tricky matchup in the Champions League. Standing atop the Portuguese Primeira Liga, they lack the overwhelming star power that some teams bring to the table, they do have a team filled with solid and often underrated players. The likes of Raul Jimenez, Franco Cervi, Eduardo Salvio, Lisandro Lopez, and Victor Lindelof aren’t outstanding on their own, but as a unit combined with the rest of their teammates, Benfica are a solid team capable of surprising results.
How they got here: Those results weren’t quite enough to win their Champions League group, but they were still good enough to see Benfica reach the knockout rounds for the second year in a row. It was a close-run thing, with a loss to Napoli putting them at risk, but Besiktas’ failure to win in their own final match kept them safe.
Key player: If they’re going to advance to the quarterfinal, a major part of that will depend on the performance of Luís Miguel Afonso Fernandes (Pizzi), who has been at the heart of all their successes. The Portuguese midfielder’s creativity has driven their attack all season long, and he’s their leading goalscorer in league play with five goals, plus two more in the Champions League. If he can keep up this level of quality, Benfica will be tough to deal with.
Borussia Dortmund may not be on top of Germany right now, but that lack of domestic success hasn’t dampened their European spirit. Dortmund and their young, free-wheeling team have created a lot of excitement around the club, with every match becoming something that fans and neutrals alike have to watch. It’s not often that we get to watch a club like this come together and find success, but that’s exactly what they’ve been doing — and we get to enjoy the ride.
How they got here: Dortmund shocked a lot of people when they won their group, and they did it with a phenomenal performance against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium to come back from a two-goal deficit to earn a 2-2 draw. That result gave them tiebreaker advantages over Real Madrid in the form of a superior goal differential, a goal differential possible largely because of the incredible attacking presence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Key player: Aubameyang plays with a lot of flair and explosiveness on the pitch, and when he’s not scoring goals by the bushel — he has a staggering 15 league goals in 13 matches, and has added four more in the Champions League — he’s helping open and create opportunities for his teammates to get dangerous scoring chances themselves.
Prediction
Benfica was handed the benefit of an easy group and still just about messed it up. Dortmund beat Real Madrid. Let’s not overthink this. Dortmund victory.
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