Russian champions Zenit St. Petersburg will try to overturn a one-goal deficit when they face Portuguese giants Benfica on Wednesday, in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. Benfica won the first leg thanks to a stoppage time goal from Jonas, after Zenit's Domenico Criscito was sent off. Zenit have always defeated Benfica at home, 3-2 in 2012 and 1-0 in 2014. However, the only time the two sides have met over two legs it was Benfica that pulled through.
Zenit resumed their domestic season after the first-leg defeat at Benfica, they started with an extra-time win over Kuban in the Russian Cup and then were held to a goalless draw at Krasnodar. Zenit are currently fifth in the Russian Premier League, nine points behind leaders CSKA Moscow. Domenico Criscito is suspended for the match after having picked up two yellow cards in the first leg, Alexander Anyukov will most likely take his place as left back. Javi Garcia is also suspended, while Viktor Faizulin, Vyacheslav Malafeev and Aleksandr Ryazantsev are injured.
Benfica are going through a good moment of form, after the first leg they went on to win all three league matches that they had to play, two of them away from home. Last weekend they grabbed a crucial 1-0 victory in the Lisbon derby against Sporting, leapfrogging their rivals into top spot. Morale is good, confidence is high, but Benfica will have to do without quite a few important players. Jardel and Andre Almeida are suspended, while Lisandro Lopez, Luisao, Lubomir Fejsa and Nuno Santos are injured.
Probable line-ups:
Zenit: Lodygin - Smolnikov, Garay, Lombaerts, Anyukov - Neto, Witsel - Hulk, Danny, Shatov - Dzyuba
Benfica: Cesar - Silvio, Nelsinho, Lindelof, Eliseu - Sanches, Samaris - Pizzi, Jonas, Gaitan - Mitroglou
My prediction: Zenit to win 2-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Zenit win - 2.05
Draw - 3.50
Benfica win - 3.90
03/09/16, 05:03:48 PM
