Benfica vs Inter prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2023-04-10 19:00.
A 2-1 defeat to Porto in Primeira Liga action on Friday night was a big opportunity missed for table-topping Benfica, who had the chance to open up a near-unattainable lead at the summit. They must now forget about their domestic slip-up and quickly switch their attention back to the UEFA Champions League (UCL), where they will be bidding to extend their impressive home record against Italian clubs (W7, D4, L3) when Inter Milan come to town.
Claiming a first-leg advantage in this quarter-final tie will likely be key to Benfica’s chances of progression, and the Eagles are in a position to do so after losing just three of their last 25 European matches on home turf (W16, D6). Ominously, one of those defeats came at this very stage in last season’s UCL, and to add further uncertainty, Benfica have lost all five of their quarter-final ties in the UCL era.
For 2010 UCL winners Inter, their record at this stage in the UCL era is similarly uninspiring, falling at this hurdle in four of their six quarter-final jaunts. There isn’t much comfort to be sought from their domestic football either, with a 1-1 draw against Salernitana on Friday ensuring they remain outside the Serie A top-four amidst a four-match winless league run (D1, L3).
Inter did, however, do something Benfica failed to do on Friday, and that was beat Porto, with the Italian giants eliminating their Portuguese counterparts in the last 16. Victory in that tie was courtesy of a home win, and Inter are likely going to need another of those next week in Milan if they’re to progress here as only once have they ever won away from home against Portuguese opposition (D5, L4).
Players to watch: Benfica’s JoĂŁo Mário has scored in five successive UCL games, four of which came from the penalty spot, though he sits a good way off the UCL record of 11 consecutive scoring appearances set by Cristiano Ronaldo. A happy traveller, seven of Lautaro MartĂnez’s eight UCL goals for Inter have been scored away from home, leaving him one goal away from becoming Inter’s joint-top away scorer in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League.
Hot stat: Five of Inter’s last six away games in all competitions witnessed fewer than 2.5 total goals.