Monaco vs Benfica facts

Monaco and Benfica meet for the second time this season in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-offs.

The Portuguese visitors won 3-2 in France on Matchday 5 and finished the inaugural league phase in 16th place on 13 points – one position above their Ligue 1 opponents, who also picked up 13 points.

Previous meetings

2014/15 Champions League group stage
Monaco 0-0 Benfica
Benfica 1-0 Monaco
After a goalless draw at the Stade Louis II on Matchday 3 – a game Benfica ended with ten men after Lisandro López's 76th-minute red card – Talisca scored the only goal in Lisbon to give Benfica their only win of the campaign.

2024/25 Champions League league phase
Monaco 2-3 Benfica
Benfica twice came from behind in a five-goal thriller at the Stade Louis II. Eliesse Ben Seghir opened the scoring but Benfica equalised through Vangelis Pavlidis. Monaco's Wilfried Singo was sent off early in the second half and, though his team restored their lead through substitute Soungoutou Magassa, Ángel Di María set up goals for Arthur Cabral and Zeki Amdouni in the final ten minutes to give the visitors victory.

Form guide

Monaco

Record vs Portuguese clubs: W2 D3 L7 F12 A24
Home record vs Portuguese clubs: W2 D2 L2

Before losing to Benfica this season Monaco had last faced a team from Portugal in the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League round of 16, going out 1-3 on aggregate against Braga (0-2 a, 1-1 h).

Monaco are now eight matches without a win against Portuguese teams (D2 L6), since a 3-2 home victory against Sporting CP in the 1997/98 Champions League group stage.

That was Monaco's second home game against Portuguese visitors and a second win having beaten Belenenses 3-0 in the 1989/90 European Cup Winners' Cup first round; their record since is D2 L2 with three goals scored and seven conceded.

The French side beat Belenenses 4-1 on aggregate, the 2022 defeat by Braga their only other two-legged contest against a team from Portugal.

Monaco lost 3-0 to Porto in the 2004 Champions League final at the Arena AufSchalke in Germany.

This is Monaco's tenth appearance in the Champions League proper, a first since 2018/19 and the first time they have reached the knockout stage since 2016/17, when they went on to the semi-finals.

The 2022/23 campaign was Monaco's most recent in European football before 2024/25. Having lost to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League third qualifying round a year later (3-4 aggregate), they moved across to the UEFA Europa League, eventually losing on penalties to Bayer Leverkusen in the knockout round play-offs.

Les Monégasques have won five of their last eight home European games, beating Barcelona (2-1), Crvena Zvzeda (5-1) and Aston Villa (1-0) this season, losing the other three.

Adi Hütter's side sealed a return to the Champions League proper by finishing second in Ligue 1 in 2023/24, nine points behind Paris Saint-Germain. It was Monaco's highest final league placing since 2017/18, when they were also runners-up to Paris.

Benfica

Record vs French clubs: W18 D10 L9 F47 A36
Away record vs French clubs: W5 D5 L9

This season's win at Monaco was only Benfica's second in their last ten away games against French clubs (D4 L4), the other a 3-2 victory at Bordeaux in the 2012/13 Europa League round of 16 second leg to complete a 4-2 aggregate success.

Benfica lost 1-0 at Marseille in last season's Europa League quarter-final second leg and subsequently went out 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 aggregate draw. That made Benfica's record in two-legged ties against French clubs W9 L3 and ended a run of five successive aggregate victories.

The 2-1 win in the home first leg against Marseille had made it five games unbeaten against Ligue 1 clubs (W2 D3); the second-leg loss is one of only two in Benfica's last 12 versus French teams (W6 D4).

This is Benfica's 19th appearance in the Champions League proper, and a 14th in the last 15 seasons.

The Eagles reached successive quarter-finals in 2021/22 and 2022/23 but were unable to progress to the knockout rounds last season, finishing third in Group D behind Real Sociedad and Inter Milan before going on to the Europa League quarter-finals, where Marseille ended their run.

Benfica have suffered only six losses in their last 28 European games outside Lisbon (W13 D9) although four of those defeats have come in the last ten. They won at Crvena Zvezda (2-1), Monaco and, on Matchday 8, Juventus (2-0) in this season's league phase in addition to a 1-0 loss at Bayern München.

European champions in 1961 and 1962, Benfica have lost in five other European Cup finals, most recently in 1990.

The Lisbon club were second to local rivals Sporting CP in the 2023/24 Portuguese Liga.

Benfica parted company with Roger Schmidt on 31 August, reappointing Bruno Lage, who was previously in charge between January 2019 and July 2020, as his replacement.

Links and trivia

Have played in France:
Florentino (Monaco 2020/21 loan)
Renato Sanches (LOSC Lille 2019–22, Paris Saint-Germain 2022/23)
Ángel Di María (Paris Saint-Germain 2015–22)

Di María's record against Monaco with Paris was W11 D2 L3 with six goals and eight assists. He scored one and set up two in a 4-1 victory in the 2017 Coupe de la Ligue final and was also on target in Paris' 3-0 final victory 12 months later.

Di María scored both goals in Benfica's 2-1 victory against Toulouse in last season's Europa League knockout round play-off first leg, the second a penalty after he had been fouled by Christian Mawissa, who was sent off for the challenge.

Has played in Portugal:
Al Musrati (Vitória SC 2016–19, Rio Ave 2020 loan, Braga 2020–24)

Have played together:
Radosław Majecki, Caio Henrique, Aleksandr Golovin, Eliot Matazo, Krépin Diatta & Florentino (Monaco 2020/21)
Thilo Kehrer & Ángel Di María (Paris Saint-Germain 2018–22)
Denis Zakaria & Ángel Di María (Juventus 2022)
Wilfried Singo & Andrea Belotti (Torino 2018–22)

Belotti scored past Philipp Kohn in Roma's 2-0 victory against Salzburg in the 2022/23 Europa League knockout phase play-off second leg.

International team-mates:
Philipp Kohn, Denis Zakaria, Breel Embolo & Zeki Amdouni (Switzerland)

Latest news

Monaco

Beaten 4-1 at Paris Saint-Germain on Friday, Monaco had won their previous two games in Ligue 1 having managed one victory in the previous six (D2 L3).

They were 4-2 winners at home to Auxerre on 1 February, Thilo Kehrer opening the scoring before January recruit Mika Biereth scored a nine-minute hat-trick in the second half.

George Ilenikhena has not played since 5 January with a groin injury.

Folarin Balogun has been out since 1 December after shoulder surgery.

Wilfried Singo (hamstring) has missed the last two games while Lamine Camara (knee) and Aleksandr Golovin (ankle) went off at the break against Auxerre, the latter returning as a substitute on Friday.

Edan Diop has not played this season due to a stress fracture in his foot.

On 3 February, Monaco announced the signing of Libyan midfielder Al Musrati on loan from Beşiktaş until the end of the season plus the option for an extra year.

Benfica

The Eagles have lost three of their last six league games, winning the other three including 3-2 successes at Estrela da Amadora on 2 February and at home to Moreirense on Saturday.

Vangelis Pavlidis scored the winner at Estrela and the first two against Moreirense to make it seven goals in his last five games in all competitions.

Benfica have conceded 18 goals in their 21 league matches – ten of those goals in their last six games.

A 3-1 defeat at Casa Pia on 25 January was Benfica's fourth in the league this season – the same as in the whole of 2023/24.

Ángel Di Maria's early penalty had opened the scoring; the Argentinian is Benfica's joint top scorer this season alongside Pavlidis with 14 goals in 31 games, including 11 in his last 18.

Benfica will be at home to Braga in the Portuguese Cup quarter-finals on 26 February.

Antonio Bah and Manu Silva were both carried off in the first half on Saturday after suffering knee injuries.

Di María was replaced at Estrela da Amadora due to thigh injury and missed Saturday's win.

Out since 24 August with a dislocated shoulder, striker Tiago Gouveia underwent knee surgery in January.

Having been absent between 10 November and 4 January with a thigh muscle injury, Renato Sanches has since suffered another thigh problem.