Comments, predictions Monaco vs Benfica: Counterattack

Benfica will travel to the Stade Louis II for the second time this season to face Monaco in the Champions League knockout stage on Wednesday night.

The visitors will be hoping to repeat the 3-2 win they enjoyed in the principality during the league stage, with hosts Monaco going through a bit of a shaky run of form.

Latest Monaco vs Benfica team information

Monaco have a long list of first-team players expected to be absent here, with midfielder Lamine Camara the most important, so Soungoutou Magassa could be in line to replace him against the club for whom he scored his first professional goal in November.

In defence, Christian Mawissa is suspended after being sent off against Inter, while Jordan Teze and Wilfried Singo are both doubts, leaving Hutter short of options at the back.

Up front, George Ilenikhena and Folarin Balogun are still struggling with injuries, so Mika Biereth could make his Champions League debut for the club after arriving in January and making an instant impact in front of goal, notably with a hat-trick against Auxerre.

Benfica saw both Alexander Bah and Manu Silva forced off in the first half of their home win over Moreirense at the weekend, leaving the duo doubts for this game.

Angel Di Maria and Arthur Cabral missed the game entirely with minor knocks, but both will be in the squad for this game, with the latter battling against the in-form Vangelis Pavlidis for a starting spot.

The visitors have conceded 12 goals in five games, but Nicolas Otamendi has done his best to alleviate that problem by contributing to goals at the other end, with the veteran defender scoring in consecutive games for Lage's side.

Latest expected lineup Monaco vs Benfica

Monaco:

Majecki; Vanderson, Kehrer, Salisu, Caio Henrique; Zakaria, Magassa; Akliouche, Golovin, Ben Seghir; Biereth

Benfica:

Trubin; Tomas Araujo, Antonio Silva, Otamendi, Fernandez; Florentino Luis, Aursnes, Kokcu; Di Maria, Pavlidis, Schjelderup

Latest football commentary Monaco vs Benfica

After being a strong contender for the top eight throughout the league stage, Monaco finished in 17th place, missing out on being seeded for this play-off round.

The 3-0 defeat Adi Hutter's men suffered at the San Siro to Inter Milan on matchday eight was the trigger for that, but a 3-2 defeat to Benfica started their slide down the table.

However, it is still a goal accomplished for Monaco, who will be in a top-24 final before the start of the tournament after successive group-stage exits, in what is their first season back in the competition since 2018-19.

Monaco have faced some challenging opponents in 2025 so far, but there is no doubt that form is waning, with five defeats from nine games this calendar year, conceding 11 goals in their last four games.

The hosts were thrashed 4-1 at Paris Saint-Germain at the weekend, seeing them slip out of Ligue 1's top three for the first time in months, and that is not the kind of preparation they want ahead of a crucial home first leg.

Defeat to Benfica in November extended their winless record against upcoming opponents and against teams from Portugal in general, Monaco have often struggled, with just one win in eight games - against Sporting Lisbon in 1997.

Benfica took four points off Monaco in the group stage of this competition back in 2014, before winning again 10 years later in the league stage earlier this season.

They will now need to repeat the feat if they are to make amends for their group stage exit from last season's Champions League, following successive runs to the quarter-finals before that.

This is the first time Benfica have faced the same club in two separate stages of a Champions League campaign, but with just three defeats in 13 games against French opponents, they can be expected to be unimpressed by the draw.

Confidence is also much higher in the camp now than just two weeks ago, when coach Bruno Lage was confronted by angry supporters over results on the pitch.

Benfica lost 5-4 to Barcelona despite leading 3-1 and 4-2, before then suffering a 3-1 defeat at Casa Pia, but since then they have been flawless.

A resounding 2-0 away win over Juventus saw them reach the play-offs, where a defeat would have seen them eliminated and the Eagles have gone on to record back-to-back 3-2 wins over Estrela and Moreirense, leaving them just four points behind rivals Sporting at the top of the Primeira Liga.

Latest Monaco vs Benfica score prediction

Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the following results for the Monaco vs Benfica match:

• Sportsmole: Monaco 2-2 Benfica

• WhoScore: Monaco 1-1 Benfica
• Our prediction: Monaco 1-1 Benfica

When and where to watch Monaco vs Benfica live?

To watch live the Monaco vs Benfica match in the Champion League taking place at 3:00 a.m. on February 13, viewers can watch on K+ Sport, K+PM or online sports channels. Wishing viewers happy moments of watching football.

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