Real Madrid play Benfica in Champions League playoff: Team news and lineups

Who: Benfica vs Real Madrid
What: UEFA Champions League
Where: Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal
When: Tuesday, February 17 at 9pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport has live text and photo coverage of the Benfica vs Real Madrid first-leg playoff.

The playoff phase of this season’s UEFA Champions League (UCL) begins on Tuesday with some of Europe’s biggest names facing a crunch two-leg knockout series  – none bigger perhaps than manager Jose Mourinho leading Benfica against his former club Real Madrid.

The two teams already have recent history in this year’s competition: on January 28, Benfica beat the Spanish giants in dramatic fashion with a last-minute header, sealing the Portuguese side’s place in the playoff.

The catastrophic defeat for Real meant they slipped out of the automatic qualifying positions for the round of 16 and were forced into the extra knockout phase.

Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at a matchup that has so much riding on it, including some small personal pride for one of Real’s most successful coaches.

What happened the last time Real Madrid played Benfica?

Goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored an astonishing 98th-minute header as Benfica beat Real Madrid 4-2 to keep themselves in the Champions League and deny their illustrious opponents automatic entry through to the next round.

In an extraordinary league phase finale, the Portuguese side were ⁠heading out of the competition despite leading 3-2 with seconds of stoppage time remaining before Trubin came forward during a free kick to score the goal needed to sneak into the playoff round on goal difference.

That sparked wild celebrations from Benfica players, fans and their charismatic coach Mourinho in Lisbon.

Los Blancos had hoped to avoid the playoff round, but ⁠their 15 points from eight games were not enough, and Real finished the football match with nine men as Raul Asencio and Rodrygo were sent off.

In a final twist, Madrid were handed a tough Champions League playoff draw against Benfica, the very team that consigned them to the playoffs.

What did Mbappe say after loss to Benfica?

Madrid star forward Kylian Mbappe questioned the team’s desire after the upset loss to Benfica and said the star-studded side “deserve” to be in their current situation because they were not consistent enough to obtain an automatic qualification spot.

“The problem is we aren’t consistent in our play. We have to fix that. You can’t have one day [playing well] and another not, a champion team does not do that,” Mbappe told reporters.

“We deserve to be in this situation. Benfica were better. Now we have to play two more playoff games. It hurts to have to play those. We wanted to have the time in February to work on our game.”

Mbappe said he could not put his finger on a clear reason why Madrid played so poorly against Benfica on January 28.

“I think it’s a bit of everything. I can’t tell you it’s just a matter of attitude, because if I only say that, you’ll think we came here without any desire,” said the French superstar, who scored twice in the defeat.

UCL victory against Real Madrid sealed Benfica’s recent revival

Benfica were mired in the bottom 12 positions of the UCL ladder, which resulted in elimination from the competition, until their last-gasp fourth by Trubin improved their goal difference to move them into the playoff spots.

The two-time winners’ remarkable recovery to take a playoff place – they finished 24th in the 36-team league phase, the last qualifying spot – was not only encapsulated by the defeat of Real, but by winning three of their last four matches after losing their opening four games.

When was Jose Mourinho manager of Real Madrid?

The former Chelsea, Inter Milan and Manchester United manager was in charge at Real for three seasons following his appointment in May  2010.

This followed huge success at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, where he won the Champions League with the former and the latter, while also securing a first top-flight title in 40 years for Chelsea.

Mourinho, 63, only took over at Benfica in September, replacing Bruno Lage as manager after a slow start to the season.

What was Mourinho’s record at Real Madrid, and what did he win?

Mourinho finished second to Barcelona in his first season in charge, despite Cristiano Ronaldo leading the La Liga scoring charts with 40 goals that season.

Lionel Messi smashed in 50 goals the following season, but it was Real’s Portuguese pair that emerged smiling with Real’s first league title in three years – Barca claimed the crown in each of those seasons.

Mourinho’s stint at Bernabeu came to an end the following season when Barcelona won the title by 15 points. It remains the biggest winning margin in the competition’s history.

How many times have Real Madrid and Benfica won the UEFA Champions League?

Real are the record winners of Europe’s premier club competition with 15 titles to their name, the last coming in 2024.

Benfica have lifted the trophy on two occasions, and both of those came in consecutive years.

In what was regarded as Benfica’s golden era, Portuguese legend Eusebio helped the team to wins against Barcelona in 1961 and Real Madrid in 1962.

A hat-trick from Hungary’s finest export, Ferenc Puskas, could not save Real, with Benfica seizing a 5-3 win that included a double from Eusebio.

Head-to-head

This is remarkably only the fifth meeting between two of the biggest clubs from Spain and Portugal.

Benfica edge the matches 3-1, with the first meeting between the clubs coming in the final in May 1962.

Benfica team news

Benfica’s attack, which caused so many problems in their last fixture against Madrid, is close to full strength, with Vangelis Pavlidis primed to lead the line and Norwegian international Andreas Schjelderup, who put two past Los Blancos on January 28, ready to play.

Mourinho will be without key midfielder Fredrik Aursnes, who is sidelined with an injury.

Alexander Bah (knee), Samuel Soares (muscle strain) and Joao Veloso (shoulder) all remain in doubt for the first leg against Madrid.

Benfica predicted starting lineup (4-2-3-1)

Trubin (GK); Dedic, Araujo, Otamendi, Dahl; Barreiro, Barrenechea; Prestianni, Schjelderup, Sudakov; Pavlidis

Real Madrid team news

Mbappe is poised to return for Real Madrid’s playoff clash at Benfica after he took off the weekend La Liga fixture against Real Sociedad.

The availability of the team’s top scorer and best player this season is excellent news for coach Alvaro Arbeloa, but it raises the question of whether Los Blancos lose too much balance when both he and Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior line up in attack together.

That problem is further exacerbated when Jude Bellingham is available too, but the England international is injured (leg) and will not feature against Mourinho’s side in Lisbon.

Madrid will be without two starters, Asencio and Rodrygo, who are suspended as a direct result of their last Champions League tussle against Benfica in the league phase finale.

Eder Militao will join Bellingham on the sidelines as he recovers from a tendon injury.

Real Madrid predicted starting lineup (4-2-3-1)

Courtois (GK); Carreras, Huijsen, Rudiger, Alexander-Arnold; Camavinga, Tchouameni; Valverde, Vinicius, Guler; Mbappe

When will the Champions League knockouts and final be played?

The two legs of the round of 16 will be played on March 10-11 and March 17-18.

After the quarterfinals and semifinals, the finale of this season’s Champions League will be staged at Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary. The game will be played on May 30.

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: aljazeera.com