Brugge – Benfica – Champions League Review

Club Brugge hosts Benfica at the Jan Breydelstadion in a first leg from the Champions League 1/8-finals. Stay with us and our best free soccer predictions.

Club Brugge surprised everyone when they reached the knockout phase of the competition. The Belgian side showed a lot of quality and did very well in the group stage.  They rarely reach the 1/8-finals of the Champions League, but now they even have the chance to play in the next phase of the competition as well.

Since December, Brugge are managed by the English coach Scott Parker. He replaced Carl Hoefkens who left the club recently. Club Brugge’s current form is a bit problematic, though – they have won just one of their last eight matches in all competitions. It means that Scott Parker didn’t bring the improvement everyone expected of him.

Because of their poor shape, Club Brugge are now 21 points behind the leader Genk in the Belgian First Division A.

Benfica are the favorites to reach the 1/4-finals in this tie. The Portuguese giants are a proven club in the European competitions and now they face an opponent in a bad shape. It’s a perfect chance for them to reach the next phase of the tournament.

Benfica are currently leading the standings in the Portuguese Primeira Liga while they also enjoy a run of four consecutive wins. In these four matches Roger Schmidt’s team kept four clean sheets and scored 11 goals.

Goncalo Ramos is one of the big stars in Benfica’s team. The striker shined during the World Cup in Qatar and he has scored 12 league goals this season.

Surely it’s going to be very difficult for Club Brugge against Benfica in the Champions League. The Belgians are not in their best form at the moment while the Lisboa Eagles won with ease their last few matches in Portugal. In our best free soccer predictions we can say that Benfica are the favorites here.