Club Brugge v Benfica Prediction: Who Will Come Out on Top?

Preview: The All-Important Date & Venue for Club Brugge v Benfica

The first leg of this Club Brugge v Benfica will be played at the Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges on the 15th of February at 20:00 GMT. Since this is just the first half of the match as there is another leg to be played in Portugal there might be a few nerves about as neither side will want to make an error that could end up giving their opponents a big advantage ahead of the second leg. In the past, Benfica, as the away team, would have been eager to score as many as they can due to the away goal rule (if the scores are level at the end of both legs, then the team that scored the most away goals will advance), but this has since been scrapped by UEFA. Therefore, do not expect to see Benfica going all out in order to find an away goal.

Club Brugge v Benfica History

Both Club Brugge and Benfica are two teams that have won plenty of trophies in their respective countries. The former are one of the most decorated clubs in Belgium, having won the Belgian League on 18 occasions, which puts them second behind Anderlecht when it comes to league success. They have won the Belgian Cup on 11 occasions and the Belgian Super Cup on 17 occasions. Benfica, on the other hand, is one of the top three clubs in Portugal, having never suffered relegation from the Primeira Liga. To date, they have won the league on 37 occasions, the Taça de Portugal 26 times, and the Taça de Liga 7 times.

So, while both clubs have had plenty of success in their domestic competitions, what type of success have they had in the Champions League? Well, this is what we shall have a look at right now.

Club Brugge Champions League History

Club Brugge, who are current managed by Scott Parker, have qualified for the last four consecutive editions of the Champions League, but they were always knocked out in the Group Stage. In the 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 editions of the competition they managed to finish 3rd in their group, so they at least got the consolation prize of being transferred to the Europa League. In the 2021/22 edition, they finished bottom of a group, but this was something that many expected since they were drawn in a Group A alongside Manchester City, PSG, and RB Leipzig.

This time around, they have obviously made it to the Round of 16, and this was a big achievement for the club and its fans because it is the first time that they have managed to qualify from the group stages. While the football betting sites do not give them any hope of beating the big boys to the title, they will still be looking to get at least a couple more wins under their belt to secure more spending money for future seasons. If they manage to overcome Benfica, then they will net a total of £9.1 million. This might seem like a measly amount for those who support clubs from the English Premier League, but it can make a really big difference to teams such as Club Brugge, and even Benfica.

Benfica Champions League History

Benfica, who are currently coached by Roger Schmidt, have more Champions League experience than Club Brugge, having participated in all but one of the previous 13 editions of this competition. Like Club Brugge, they are often eliminated in the Group Stage, but they have made it to five quarter-finals in the 17 Champions Leagues that they have participated in. Here they were eliminated by top teams such as Milan, Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool.

Benfica, it is fair to say, will fancy their chances of making it through to their sixth Champions League quarter-final as they could have ended up playing the likes of Liverpool, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, or RB Leipzig. This is not to be disrespectful to Club Brugge, but if Benfica got to choose their opponents for the Round of 16, then they more than likely would have selected Club Brugge.

Club Brugge v Benfica Head-to-Head

When you are considering placing wagers on any kind of football game, it is vital that you take the time to have a look at some previous results between the two clubs. Why do we recommend that you do this? Well, this type of research will tell you which team has had the upper hand over the years, which can go a long way to telling you what could occur in their next game. In sports such as football, it is definitely not uncommon for one football team to have some psychological edge over another, and the power that this can have is not something that should be underestimated.

Unfortunately, no such stats exist since these two teams have never played against each other. Therefore, you should tune in and give it a watch as you will be watching a little piece of Champions League history. If you still decide to place bets on this match, then we recommend that you take the time to have a look at some of these quality Champions League betting offers.

Club Brugge v Benfica Highlights: Path to the Round of 16

While we cannot have a look at past results between these two teams, we can have a gander at the path that each team was required to navigate in order to book themselves a spot in the Round of 16. We suggest that you do this since one team might have needed to navigate a harder path than their opposition since the draw is done completely randomly. If a team with a harder path performed a lot better than a team with an easier path, then this is definitely something that you need to remember when you are thinking about doing some betting on the tie.

When you are placing bets with your hard-earned cash, you should not rush into placing your wagers since this will, more often than not, see you lose more bets than you end up winning. Now, while we can never guarantee that your wager will be a winning one if you take some time to think about your bet, there can be no doubt that by doing a lot of research you can improve your chances of a successful bet. Therefore, we are now going to have a look at how both Club Brugge and Benfica made it through to the 2022/2023 Champions League Round of 16.

Club Brugge's Route to the Round of 16

Club Brugge were drawn into a pretty tough group that also included the likes of Porto, Bayer Leverkusen, and Atletico Madrid. At the start of the Group Stage, many would probably have had their money on Atletico Madrid and Porto finishing in the two qualifying positions, while most would also have bet on Club Brugge finishing at the bottom of the pile. However, to the shock of many, it was Atletico Madrid that ended up finishing bottom of the group, while Bayer Leverkusen finished third and had to settle for a spot in the UEFA Europa League.

From the six games that Club Brugge played, they picked up three wins, two draws, and one loss to finish on a total of 11 points and a +3 goal difference. Porto topped the group with four wins and two defeats to give them a total of 12 points and a +5 goal difference. Club Brugge put in some very impressive performances with their standout ones being a 4-0 away win against Porto and a 2-0 home win against Atletico Madrid. They will have been disappointed by the 4-0 defeat at home to Porto in the penultimate round of matches because even a draw here would have been enough for the Belgian club to take the top spot.

Benfica's Route to the Round of 16

When Group H was randomly drawn, many would have predicted that Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus would be the two teams that would fight it out for top spot in the group. However, Benfica had other ideas and were one of the surprise packages of the Group Stage. From the six matches that they had to play, they won four and drew two to finish on 14 points and a +9 goal difference. PSG also won four matches and drew two, also finishing on 14 points and a +9 goal difference. Benfica ended up topping the group due to the fact that they managed to score nine away goals compared to PSG's six - this was the fourth tiebreaker.

During the Group Stage, Benfica picked up two very impressive 1-1 draws against PSG, while they also beat Juventus both at home and away. The match that ended up sealing top spot for them came in the final round of group stage matches when they scored six away goals against Maccabi Haifa. They scored five of these six goals in the final 30 minutes of the match to finish top of the group and book themselves a more favourable match in the Round of 16.

Club Brugge v Benfica Odds

While quality Europa League betting sites do not think that either of these teams have what it takes to go on to lift the title, you can put your money on other interesting markets such as the winner of this first leg. In the table below, we have provided you with the odds that some top UK sports betting sites are offering for either of these teams to win the first match of this tie and take some sort of advantage into the second match.

Club Brugge to Win	3.95	3.90	3.70	3.60	3.60
Benfica to Win	1.94	1.90	2.00	1.95	1.95
Draw	3.60	3.60	3.60	3.50	3.60

So, as you can see from the Club Brugge vs Benfica odds in the above table, the top sports betting sites available to punters in the United Kingdom reckon that Benfica should go on to win this match pretty comfortably, despite the fact that they are playing away.

Club Brugge vs Benfica Betting Tips

You can bet on the winning team in the first leg if you want, but there are many other entertaining markets that you can wager on should you decide that you do not feel like putting your cash on the team that will go on to win the game. Below we have provided you with some top Club Brugge vs Benfica tips that you can make use of if you decide to place some wagers on this match.

Both Teams Not to Score: In the six matches that they played, Club Brugge only conceded four goals and these all came in the one match against Porto that they lost 4-0. Therefore, this means that they did not concede in the other five games that they played, which is a pretty impressive feat in our opinion. Benfica, on the other hand, conceded seven goals in six matches, but keep in mind that they had to play both PSG and Juventus twice. Therefore, it is clear that both teams have very solid defensive lines, so it would not be a surprise if one of the keepers manages a clean sheet.

Under 2.5 goals: Due to the fact that both of these teams clearly know how to defend, if you are the type of punter that likes to bet on the total goals market, we would recommend that you opt for the under 2.5 option. Yes, both teams do know how to find the back of the net, but since this will be a huge occasion for both sides, we think it will be a game where the defence are on top and goals are in short supply.

Bet on Joao Mario to score: If you are the type of football gambler that likes to bet on a particular player to score a goal, then we suggest that you think about putting your money on Joao Mario to score in this match. The midfielder has scored 12 goals this season and is his club's top scorer this season. To add to this, he also takes Benfica's penalties, and we think that there is a good chance that they get a penalty in this match.

Raphael Onyedika to pick up a yellow: Some punters like to put their money on a player to pick up a booking since such bets often come with some enticing odds. If you are the kind of punter that likes to place such bets, then we recommend that you think about putting your cash on Onyedika since he is partial to a yellow card. In the 15 matches that he has played for Club Brugge since his move from Midtjylland, he has picked up 6 yellows, which is more than any of his teammates. He plays as a CDM and loves to put a tackle in, so there is a very good chance that he will end up getting booked in this match.

If you have a bet that you want to make but you cannot find the odds for it at the sportsbook that you have registered with, then you should think about the request a bet option. With such a feature, you just need to get in touch with your sports betting site, inform them of the kind of bet that you want to place, and then they will provide you with whatever they deem to be fair odds. Then they leave it up to you to decide whether you want to accept their odds and place the bet.

Club Brugge v Benfica Live Stream

Unfortunately, you will not find live streams for this Club Brugge v Benfica match at the sports betting site that you have registered with since sportsbooks do not have the rights to broadcast such matches to their punters. TV channels have to pay an awful lot of cash to secure the rights for huge football matches, so bookmakers will obviously not be granted permission to stream matches live to their punters. So, if you want to watch this game live in the United Kingdom, then you need to tune into BT Sport.

Our Final Prediction

The top bookmakers reckon that Benfica will come out on top in this first leg, and we are going to agree with them here. While Club Brugge were impressive during the Group Stage, Benfica were even more so - topping a group that includes PSG and Benfica is no easy feat. This Benfica team knows how to score goals, so we reckon that they will be able to get at least one past the Club Brugge defence. In fact, we think that the final score in this match will be 1-0 to Benfica.

Our match prediction: Benfica to win.

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