The first leg between Monaco and Benfica took place a week ago at the Stade Louis II. To say that there was no fight in that encounter would be an understatement. The Lisbon side had four times as many shots on goal and twice as many shots on goal. Monaco's 0-1 defeat could have been justified by Al-Musrati's suspension in the 52nd minute, but Pavlidis scored the only goal of the match for Benfica at even strength. The hosts failed to create any serious danger to the Eagles' goal, so they must change something and beat their opponents on their field in the return leg. Bookmakers have identified the home team as the favourites for the upcoming game, offering odds of 1.85 on their victory.

After a gutless defeat a week ago, the players of Monaco took their soul in the most brutal way in a meeting with Nantes. "The Canaries scored a goal in the fourth minute on Saturday, but that was the end of the good news for them. Four minutes later Nantes were left in the minority, and from the last minutes of the first half Monaco began to beat their opponents in football terms. From 44th to 90+5 minutes, the Monegasques scored seven unanswered goals. However, this result should not be overestimated at all. Monaco has certainly not become stronger than the example of itself from a week ago. The team often loses to opponents of any class, and the strongest - losing with a resounding score. In the last fortnight alone, Inter and PSG defeated the Monegasques 3-0 and 4-1 respectively.

Benfica, after their return from Monaco, made another victorious outing. This time in the Portuguese championship. Santa Clara, who are fifth in the division, were beaten by Bruma's goal in the 55th minute. A particularly pleasing and inspiring moment for the Eagles was the fact that in the parallel meeting Sporting lost points in the championship for the second time in a row, failing to beat modest Aroca. Thus, Benfica's lead is now down to two points, which almost completely negates Sporting's advantage, which seemed unassailable just a few weeks ago. Benfica will beat their Ligue 1 opponents again.