Benfica
Having lost their last domestic fixture against Porto, Benfica will be hoping to get back to winning ways in European competition. The Eagles finished second in their Champions League group and will face a stern test as they welcome Russian powerhouse Zenit tomorrow evening.
Rui Vitoria will be missing both Luisao and Pedro Rebocho due to injury, and he will be quite concerned about the availability of Lisandro Lopez given that he was unable to feature in their match versus Porto last week. The hosts are certainly no strangers to their upcoming visitors, having clashed with them in the group stages of the 2014/2015 Champions League and ended up on the losing end both home and away.
This is the first appearance for Benfica in the Champions League knockout rounds since the 2011/2012 season, in which they were dispatched by Chelsea - who would go on to ultimately win it - at the quarter-finals stage. Whilst Vitoria will have to make do without some of his key players, fortunately for him, top goalscorer Jonas, who has netted over 20 league goals this season is available to lead the line.
Additionally, veteran Greek striker Konstantinos Mitroglou has been in good form as of late with a solid eight goals in his last six domestic games, and they will be relying on the expertise of goalkeeper Julio Cesar - a Champions League winner with Inter in 2010 - to keep Zenit at bay as they hope to head to Russia with a win in hand.
Zenit
Meanwhile, due to the make-up of the Russian Premier League, Andre Villas-Boas will hope his men will be able to quickly get back into the swing of things after their long winter break. This will be the first match for the reigning league champions since they suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Belgian outfit Gent back in December, which was the only black mark on an otherwise excellent performance in the group stages.
Although the St. Petersburg-based club won the Europa League back during the 2007/2008 season, they have not enjoyed the same levels of success in the continent's premier competition. Still, with five wins out of six in the group stages - their best performance to date - fans will be hopeful that their squad will be able to continue their good track record when it comes to facing Portuguese sides, especially on the road.
For this upcoming fixture, Villas-Boas will be missing Vyacheslav Malafeev, Aleksandr Ryazantsev, and Viktor Faizulin due to injury, and it will be an interesting re-match yet again for Argentinian international Ezequiel Garay, who will be featuring in the center of defense against his former colleagues.
Zenit have won their last three away matches against Portuguese teams in European competitions and as noted before, beat Benfica both home and away in last season's Champions League group stages. However, despite this being their third appearance at this juncture in five previous attempts, they have never made it past the round of 16.
As such, they will certainly be hoping that their good record against Benfica - which has seen them win three out of their last four meetings - will give them the edge they need to take a crucial win back to Russia before the return leg next month.
Which channel is broadcasting Benfica vs Zenit on TV or Online?
- In the USA at 14.45 EST on: Fox Soccer 2GO USA, Fox Deportes, Fox Sports 2 USA, Fox Sports GO
- In Portugal at 19.45 WET on: RTP 1, Sport TV1
- In Russia at 22.45 MSK on: NTV+ Sport Online, Belarus 2, NTV+ Football, Sportbox.ru
- In Canada at 14.45 ET on: RDS, TSN5, TSN4, TSN3, TSN1
If you live elsewhere, feel free to check out the Benfica vs Zenit broadcast page.
*Note: Live broadcast data is subject to change*
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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