Benfica vs Club Brugge facts

Benfica are closing in on the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals as they welcome round of 16 newcomers Club Brugge to Lisbon holding a two-goal advantage.

The Portuguese side are bidding to reach the last eight for the second season in a row and took a significant step towards that in Bruges on 15 February, second-half strikes from João Mário (51pen) and David Neres (88) putting them firmly in charge against a Club Brugge side who have progressed from the group stage for the first time at the tenth attempt.

The first leg was the teams' first meeting – one of only two round of 16 ties in which the clubs' paths had never previously crossed, Borussia Dortmund-Chelsea the other.

The Belgian champions qualified ahead of Bayer Leverkusen and Atlético de Madrid to finish second in Group B, thanks mainly to victories in each of their first three matches. Benfica also claimed a notable coup in the group stage, remaining unbeaten to finish top of Group H ahead of Paris Saint-Germain thanks to a remarkable Matchday 6 result.

Club Brugge and Eintracht Frankfurt are the only teams to be making their UEFA Champions League knockout debuts in 2022/23.

Form guide

Benfica

Benfica are competing in the UEFA Champions League proper for the 17th time and the 12th in 13 seasons – they missed out only in 2020/21, when they were beaten by PAOK in the third qualifying round. They have reached a seventh knockout phase, qualifying in successive seasons for only the second time, after 2015/16 and 2016/17.

In 2021/22 the Eagles came through two qualifying rounds to reach the group stage, where they collected eight points to finish second in Group E behind Bayern München, eliminating Barcelona in the process. They then ousted Ajax in the round of 16 (2-2 h, 1-0 a) before losing to Liverpool in the quarter-finals (1-3 h, 3-3 a).

Benfica – who were third in the Portuguese Liga in 2021/22, 17 points behind champions Porto and 11 adrift of runners-up Sporting CP – have reached seven European Cup finals, winning the trophy in 1961 and 1962 but losing on their five subsequent appearances, most recently against AC Milan in 1990.

The Portuguese giants kicked off this season under new coach Roger Schmidt in the third qualifying round, recording two emphatic wins against Midtjylland (4-1 h, 3-1) with Gonçalo Ramos scoring a first-leg hat-trick. They then eased past Dynamo Kyiv (2-0 a, 3-0 h) to make it four wins from four in UEFA Champions League play-off ties.

Benfica then won four of their six Group H games, the exceptions two 1-1 draws against Paris Saint-Germain, and snatched first place ahead of their French rivals with a remarkable 6-1 win at Maccabi Haifa on Matchday 6. The Eagles scored five times in the last 31 minutes to claim their biggest away UEFA Champions League victory and finish ahead of Paris by virtue of scoring more away goals.

The defeat by Liverpool in last season's quarter-final first leg is one of only three in Benfica's last 24 European matches at their own stadium (W15 D6).

Last season was Benfica's first round of 16 appearance since 2016/17, when a 1-0 home first-leg win against Borussia Dortmund was undone by a 4-0 loss in Germany. That is the Portuguese side's only aggregate defeat at this stage of the UEFA Champions League after wins in 2005/06, 2011/12, 2015/16 and 2021/22.

Benfica's last games against Belgian opponents before this tie came in the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League group stage, winning 3-0 at home against Standard Liège before a 2-2 away draw. The latter result ended the Eagles' four-match winning run against Belgian clubs, though they are now unbeaten in six.

This is Benfica's 23rd match against a Belgian side. They have won 13 of the previous 22, with all four defeats in Belgium, including the first leg of the 1982/83 UEFA Cup final against Anderlecht, which they lost 1-0, ultimately going down 2-1 on aggregate. The Eagles have never lost at home to a visiting team from the country (W7 D2), winning the last five, with RC Liégeois the last to avoid defeat, drawing 1-1 in Lisbon in the 1988/89 UEFA Cup second round to complete a 3-2 aggregate success.

Benfica lost 3-1 on aggregate to Anderlecht in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round to make their overall record in knockout ties against clubs from Belgium W4 L3.

Benfica have lost only one of 21 UEFA competition ties after winning the first leg away, against Ajax in the 1968/69 European Cup quarter-finals, when they followed a 3-1 win in Amsterdam with a home defeat by the same scoreline and subsequently lost a Paris play-off 3-0. Most recently they beat Dynamo Kyiv in this season's UEFA Champions League play-offs (2-0 a, 3-0 h), the fourth time they had won 2-0 away in the first game.

Benfica's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W2 L2:
4-1 v Torpedo Moskva, 1977/78 European Cup first round
5-6 v PSV Eindhoven, 1987/88 European Cup final
4-1 v PAOK, 1999/2000 UEFA Cup second round
2-4 v Sevilla, 2013/14 UEFA Europa League final

Club Brugge

This is Club Brugge's tenth UEFA Champions League campaign – two short of Anderlecht's Belgian record – and a club-record fifth in succession.

All nine of those previous campaigns failed to extend into the knockout rounds; in 2021/22 the Bruges side finished bottom of Group A behind Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Leipzig after collecting four points from their six games, the last four all defeats.

This season, Club Brugge kicked off with a 1-0 win at home to Leverkusen before a 4-0 success at Porto – making them the first Belgian side to win their first two games in a UEFA Champions League group – and a 2-0 home victory against Atlético. Progress was assured with a goalless draw in Madrid on Matchday 4 although first place slipped from their grasp after a 4-0 home defeat by Porto before a 0-0 draw at Leverkusen that made it three games without a win or a goal. They did, however, keep clean sheets in five of their six matches.

Despite this season's three victories, Blauw-Zwart have managed only seven in their last 39 fixtures in the UEFA Champions League proper (D12 L20).

Club Brugge have lost only four of their last 14 away matches in the UEFA Champions League proper (W4 D6), scoring two or more goals in four of the last nine.

Club Brugge are only the second Belgian side to reach the UEFA Champions League round of 16, Gent losing 4-2 on aggregate to Wolfsburg in 2015/16.

Antonio Nusa completed the scoring in Club Brugge's Matchday 2 win at Porto, becoming the second youngest goalscorer in UEFA Champions League history aged 17 years 139 days – behind Barcelona's Ansu Fati (17 years 40 days).

Champions of Belgium for the 18th time in 2021/22 – their third title in a row – Club Brugge appointed Carl Hoefkens as coach in May, their former defender earning internal promotion to replace the Ajax-bound Alfred Schreuder, who had in turn taken over from Philippe Clement four months earlier. Hoefkens was replaced in December by ex-England midfielder Scott Parker, the former manager of Fulham and Bournemouth.

This is Club Brugge's fourth game against a Portuguese club this season, the 4-0 win at Porto on Matchday 2 making their record away to Portuguese opponents W2 L4. The only other success came at Braga in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stage, Ryan Donk securing a 2-1 win with a 91st-minute goal.

Home and away, Club Brugge's record against Portuguese clubs is now W5 D1 L7.

This is Club Brugge's third knockout tie against a Portuguese side. They lost to Porto in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup second round (0-3 a, 3-2 h), their first games involving opponents from Portugal, but beat Boavista in the first round of the same competition in 1985/86 (3-4 a, 3-1 h) with Jean-Pierre Papin scoring a second-leg hat-trick.

Club Brugge have lost all five UEFA competition ties in which they suffered a home defeat in the first leg, most recently against Roma in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup round of 32 (1-2 h, 1-2 a). Their sole previous 2-0 home first-leg loss came against Barcelona in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup third round (1-1 a).

Club Brugge's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W4 L0:
4-1 v Shakhtar Donetsk, 2002/03 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
4-2 v Borussia Dortmund, 2003/04 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
4-3 v Vålerenga, 2005/06 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
4-3 v Lech Poznań, 2009/10 UEFA Europa League qualifying play-off

Links and trivia

Roman Yaremchuk was a Benfica player between 31 July 2021 and 29 August last year, when he signed for Club Brugge. He scored nine goals in his 47 appearances for the Lisbon club, including three in 16 UEFA Champions League games.

International team-mates:
Alexander Bah & Andreas Skov Olsen (Denmark)

Benfica's Julian Draxler came on as a substitute in Paris Saint-Germain's 1-0 home win against Club Brugge in 2019/20 and 1-1 draw in Bruges in 2021/22, both in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Latest news

Benfica

UEFA Champions League squad changes

In: Pedro Santos*, Gonçalo Guedes, João Neves*, Diego Moreira*, Zan Jevsenak*, Samuel Soares, Henrique Pereira*, Cher N'Dour*, Gerson Sousa*, Andreas Schjelderup, Luís Semedo*, Casper Tengstedt
Out: Henrique Araújo, Gil Dias, John Brooks, Diogo Gonçalves, Enzo Fernández, Paulo Bernardo, Helton Leite, Martim Neto, Rodrigo Pinho, João Victor
*B list

In January Benfica brought in Schjelderup (Nordsjælland) and Tengstedt (Rosenborg) as well as Gonçalo Guedes (Wolves) on loan for the rest of the season.

Fernández joined Chelsea on a permanent deal while Henrique Araújo and João Victor will spend the rest of the season on loan at Watford and Nantes respectively. Rodrigo Pinho (Coritiba), Diogo Gonçalves (Copenhagen), Helton Leite (Antalyaspor), Tomás Tavares (Spartak Moskva), Brooks (Hoffenheim) and Gil Dias (Stuttgart) also departed.

Benfica are unbeaten in 12 games in all competitions, winning ten including the last four and eight of the last nine.

The Lisbon club were 2-0 home victors against Famalicão on Friday, Gonçalo Ramos scoring in each half to make it three goals in his last three league games.

Gonçalo Ramos is now Benfica's top scorer this season with 21 goals in all competitions, two more than João Mário; Friday's double took Gonçalo Ramos on to 15 league goals, with João Mário on 14.

João Mário has scored in four of Benfica's last six league matches, seven goals in all. The 30-year-old midfielder has never managed more than six goals in any previous league campaign.

Benfica lost for the first time this season on 30 December, going down 3-0 at Braga in the Portuguese Liga.

That remains the Eagles' sole defeat of the campaign; their record otherwise is W33 D7.

Benfica bowed out of the Portuguese Cup on 9 February, however, losing their quarter-final at Braga 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Gonçalo Guedes had given them the lead, his second goal since returning to the club in January.

Roger Schmidt's side have kept nine clean sheets in their 12 matches since that defeat in Braga, conceding only four goals.

The Lisbon club have scored 99 goals in all competitions this season, conceding only 27.

Benfica were, however, eliminated from the Portuguese League Cup on goal difference after a 1-1 draw at Moreirense on 17 December.

Gonçalo Guedes marked his second Benfica debut with the final goal in a 3-0 win at Santa Clara on 21 January.

Substitute Chiquinho was himself replaced before the end of a 2-0 win at Vizela on 25 February having suffered an injury to his left thigh. He missed Friday's win.

Gonçalo Guedes injured his knee during the win at Vizela and also sat out Friday's game.

Julian Draxler has undergone ankle surgery after suffering an injury during Benfica's training session following the first leg at Club Brugge. He is not expected to play again this season, although the on-loan Paris Saint-Germain winger will remain in Lisbon for treatment.

André Almeida, who joined Benfica in 2011, bade farewell to the club before the 3-0 home win against Casa Pia on 4 February.

Nicolás Otamendi appeared in every minute of all seven games as Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Gonçalo Ramos scored a hat-trick on his first World Cup start to help Portugal defeat Switzerland 6-1 in the round of 16 at the 2022 finals.

Club Brugge

UEFA Champions League squad changes

In: Josef Bursik, Jack Hendry, Mats Rits
Out: Éder Balanta, Cyle Larin, Eduard Sobol

Club Brugge signed goalkeeper Bursik from Stoke in January, while Hendry returned to his parent club having spent the first half of the season on loan in Italy at Cremonese.

Sobol (Strasbourg) and Noah Mbamba (Leverkusen) departed on permanent deals; Larin (Valladolid) and Balanta (Schalke) agreed loan moves for the remainder of the season.

Club Brugge suffered their heaviest league defeat since 18 September on Friday, going down 3-0 at Oostende.

A 2-0 home win against Gent on 26 February is Club Brugge's only win in their last six games (D3 L2).

It was also one of only two wins in their last 14 matches, although Friday was only their fourth defeat in that run.

The first-leg defeat by Benfica and Friday's reverse at Oostende are Club Brugge's only losses in their last ten matches, six of them draws.

Hans Vanaken's penalty against Gent made him Club Brugge's top scorer in this season's Belgian First League on nine goals, one more than Ferran Jutglà; Andreas Skov Olsen and Casper Nielsen have seven.

A 2-1 win at Zulte-Waregem on 29 January is one of only two victories in Club Brugge's last ten away games, five of them draws.

Club Brugge parted company with coach Carl Hoefkens on 28 December after a run of one win in six games (D3 L2); Scott Parker was named as his replacement three days later.

Blauw-Zwart's interest in this season's Belgian Cup was ended in the last 16 by a 4-1 home defeat against Sint-Truiden on 21 December.

Rits, who was not included in the UEFA Champions League squad in the autumn, returned to action as a substitute in Club Brugge's first game of 2023, a 3-1 defeat at Genk on 8 January, having been out since 1 May due to a cruciate ligament injury. He made a further four substitute appearances before making his return to the starting XI in a 0-0 draw at Antwerp on 5 February.

Jutglà suffered a hip injury in the win at Zulte-Waregem, returning to action as a substitute in the first leg against Benfica. He has started the last three games, stretching his scoreless run to nine appearances.

Skov Olsen has not played since that win at Zulte-Waregem due to a hip injury.

Raphael Onyedika missed the win against Gent due to illness, returning as a half-time substitute on Friday.