Club Brugge vs Benfica prediction, odds and preview

On Wednesday, the first leg of Club Brugge’s Champions League round of 16 matchup against Benfica will take place at the Jan Breydel Stadium.

While Roger Schmidt’s team aims to prevent back-to-back away games without a victory for the first time since December, Scott Parker’s team has lost each of their last seven home games in all competitions.

This season’s Champions League underdog Club Brugge, who finished second in Group B behind Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid, will play in the knockout rounds for the first time in their history.

Since Brugge has already been eliminated from the Belgian Cup, they can now fully concentrate on their first-ever match against Benfica on Wednesday in an effort to extend their incredible Champions League adventure.

Including Benfica’s rival Porto this season, Blauw-Zwart had previously met five different Portuguese opponents in European competition, including an outstanding 4-0 away victory in September and losing 4-0 at home the following month.

Braga, though, ended Benfica’s seven-game unbeaten streak in all competitions last Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Taca de Portugal. The Eagles fell 5-4 on penalties after playing out a 1-1 draw with nine men over 120 minutes, with Fredrik Aursnes squandering the lone opportunity to win it.

As they have won nine and drawn four of their last 14 matches against Belgian opposition, as well as being unbeaten in their last seven Champions League games, Benfica will be hopeful of getting back to winning ways against Brugge and gaining a foothold in their first-leg tie on Wednesday.