UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Benfica
0 vs 0
Spartak
Pre Match
November 7, 2012 7:45 PM UTC
Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (da Luz) — Lisboa
Referee: F. Meyer
November 7, 2012 7:45 PM UTC
Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (da Luz) — Lisboa
Referee: F. Meyer
Benfica - Spartak Moscow Preview: Eagles know European campaign hinges on home comforts
The Portuguese giants have to secure victory at Estadio Da Luz or face the prospect of an early exit from this year's competition at the hands of their Russian counterparts.
Getty Images
| PROBABLE LINEUPS |
BENFICA
 ArturPereira, Jardel, Garay, Luisinho Gaitan, Salvio Lima, Perez, Cesar Cardozo |
SPARTAK MOSCOW
 Rebrov Makeev, Insaurralde, Pareja, Kombarov Rafael, Kallstrom Jurado, Ari, Bil'yov Eminike |
Jorge Jesus will be forced into make a couple of changes to his Benfica side as they prepare for the arrival of Spartak Moscowin a game that the home side must win in order to stand any realistic chance of progressing from Group G.The Eagles warmed up for their Champions League clash with a routine victory over Vitoria de Guimaraes in the league but their 3-0 win came at a cost as Carlos Martins limped off just before half-time with a thigh problem.
That injury, doubled with Nemanja Matic’s suspension, leaves a void in Benfica’s midfield which could be filled by promising 18 year-old Andre Gomes who has impressed since making his debut in the Portuguese Cup last month.
The Portugal Under-19s starlet scored on his debut against Freamunde and netted in his first Primeira Liga start at Gil Vicente before being dismissed for a dangerous challenge at the weekend.
Luisinho is expected to continue at left-back in place of the injured Melgarejo who is still sidelined along with a host of key figures for the hosts including Pablo Aimar, Nolito and central defender Luisao, whose eight week ban expires later this month.
Meanwhile, Spartak Moscow strolled to a 5-0 victory in their match against Krylya Sovetov at the weekend, their biggest away success in over a decade, but will find a much sterner test in prospect at Estadio Da Luz on Wednesday evening.
Juan Insaurralde and Artem Dzyuba are both back in contention for the visitors after serving a suspension and fighting off a cold respectively.
However, there is still no sign of Aiden McGeady returning to action after picking up a foot injury while on international duty for Republic of Ireland and he misses out along with long-term casualties Romulo, Sergei Parshivlyuk and Soslan Gatagov.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
- Oscar Cardozo (pictured, right) is Benfica’s top scorer so far this season with six goals in six league appearances.
- Benfica have committed more fouls than any other team in the Champions League this season, impeding their opponents on no less than 52 occasions.
- The Aguias have never lost three European home matches on the spin in their history but are in danger of setting an unwanted record on Wednesday having lost to Chelsea and Barcelona in their two previous home encounters.
- Spartak Moscow have the joint worst defence in this year’s Champions League having leaked seven goals already. Only Manchester City, Dinamo Kiev and Nordsjælland have matched this.
- The capital club have got good memories of Lisbon, having claimed victories over Benfica’s neighbours Sporting in both their 2000-01 and 2006-07 campaigns.
- Spartak have announced they have reached an agreement with BK Hacken to sign forward Abdul Waris Majeed subject to a medical. The Ghanaian was the top scorer in the Allsvenskan this season scoring 23 times in 29 appearances.
Field Report
| UEFA Champions League (UCL) | Oct 23, 2012 | Spartak 2 - Benfica 1 |
 Benfica    | ||
| Nov 3, 2012 | Benfica 3 - Vitoria Guimarães 0 | POR1 |
| Oct 27, 2012 | Gil Vicente 0 - Benfica 3 | POR1 |
| Oct 23, 2012 | Spartak 2 - Benfica 1 | UCL |
| Oct 6, 2012 | Benfica 2 - Beira-Mar 1 | POR1 |
| Oct 2, 2012 | Benfica 0 - FC Barcelona 2 | UCL |
 Spartak  | ||
| Nov 3, 2012 | Kryliya Sovetov 0 - Spartak 5 | RUS1 |
| Oct 27, 2012 | Spartak 2 - FC Mordovia Saransk 0 | RUS1 |
| Oct 23, 2012 | Spartak 2 - Benfica 1 | UCL |
| Oct 20, 2012 | Anzhi Makhachkala 2 - Spartak 1 | RUS1 |
| Oct 7, 2012 | Spartak 0 - PFC CSKA Moskva 2 | RUS1 |
| 1 | Artur | Goalkeeper |
| 14 | Maximiliano Pereira | Defender |
| 24 | Ezequiel Garay | Defender |
| 33 | Jardel Nivaldo Vieira | Defender |
| 8 | Toto Salvio | Midfielder |
| - | André Almeida | Midfielder |
| 35 | Enzo Nicolás Pérez | Midfielder |
| 18 | Lima | Striker |
| 24 | Ola John | Striker |
| 19 | Rodrigo | Striker |
| 25 | L. Melgarejo | Midfielder |
| - | Paulo Lopes | Goalkeeper |
| 27 | Miguel Vítor | Defender |
| 8 | Bruno César | Midfielder |
| 9 | Nolito | Midfielder |
| 20 | Osvaldo Nicolás Fabián Gaitán | Midfielder |
| - | André Gomes | Midfielder |
| 7 | Ó. Cardozo | Striker |
| - | Artem Rebrov | Goalkeeper |
| - | Juan Manuel Insaurralde | Defender |
| 19 | Nicolás Pareja | Defender |
| 16 | Evgeniy Makeev | Defender |
| 5 | Rafael Carioca | Midfielder |
| 77 | Kirill Kombarov | Defender |
| 18 | Jurado | Midfielder |
| 6 | Kim Källström | Midfielder |
| 99 | Dmitriy Kombarov | Midfielder |
| 7 | Diniyar Bilyaletdinov | Midfielder |
| 9 | Ari | Striker |
| 81 | Andriy Dykan | Goalkeeper |
| - | Sergey Bryzgalov | Defender |
| 17 | Marek Suchy | Defender |
| - | Emin Makhmudov | Midfielder |
| 20 | Demy de Zeeuw | Midfielder |
| 27 | Zhano Ananidze | Midfielder |
| 40 | Artem Dzuba | Striker |
| Lima | |
| POSITION: | Striker |
| SQUAD NUMBER: | 18 |
| GAMES | GOALS | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Lima has been doing well to keep pace with Cardozo in the goalscoring department, and the summer signing from Braga has hit five goals in five league starts this season, while also netting in the cup and Champions League.
| Jurado | |
| POSITION: | Midfielder |
| SQUAD NUMBER: | 18 |
| GAMES | GOALS | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jurado was on the scoresheet for the second time this season at the weekend but it will be his work in midfield that will have an influence on this game, a big shift from the Spaniard could see Spartak dominate a depleted Benfica midfield.
Benfica have never lost three European home games on the bounce and I don't expect them to do so on Wednesday either. Spartak have proved in the past they can travel well across Europe but even without the influence of Aimar and a number of others I still think the home side will edge this one.
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