After the Premier League kicked off at the weekend, the attention soon switches to the second legs of the final stage of Champions League qualification. Fenerbahce were beaten 1-0 away from home against Benfica in the first leg, the second leg is on Tuesday. 

STATS

• Fenerbahce missed out on the Turkish Super Lig title last season by just three points as Galatasaray pipped them to top spot. They’ve started this term the right way with a 2-1 opening day victory against Bursaspor but their focus is firmly on European football, they’re desperate to overturn the one-goal deficit.
• Like their opponents, Benfica had to settle for second place in the league last season but they fell short by seven points, a larger amount. They’ve got three points on the board after matchday one in Liga NOS after Pizzi’s first-half hat-trick inspired them to a 3-2 win over Vitória Guimãraes.
• It was the Brazilian impact for Fenerbahce last time out as Guiliano and Souza got a goal each in their 2-1 victory.
• All three of Benfica’s goals in their opening day win came courtesy of Pizzi, who has started the campaign in the same form he finished last season in.

HEAD TO HEAD

Before their meeting last week, the sides had met twice in the Europa League back in 2013. Fenerbahce won the first leg of the semi-final 1-0 but they were beaten 3-1 by the Portuguese giants in the second leg, Benfica went on to lose 2-1 in the final against Chelsea. Two of the three fixtures have finished 1-0 to the home side.

FENERBAHCE NEWS

The hosts need to score at least one on Tuesday so they must adopt an attacking approach. They are without Salih Ucan, Ismail Köybasi and Aatif Chahechouhe for the clash.

Latest matches: Fenerbahce

11.08.2018	Supe	Fenerbahce	Bursaspor	2:1	W
07.08.2018	UEFA	Benfica Lisbon	Fenerbahce	1:0	L
01.08.2018	Club	Fenerbahce	Cagliari Calcio	2:1	W
27.07.2018	Club	Altinordu	Fenerbahce	1:1	D
21.07.2018	Club	Fenerbahce	Feyenoord Rotterdam	3:3	D

BENFICA NEWS

The visitors will try to hold out for as long as possible without conceding whilst also attempting to snatch a goal on the counter-attack. Jonas, Tyronne Ebuehi and Filip Krovinovic are unavailable through injury.

Latest matches: Benfica Lisbon

10.08.2018	Prim	Benfica Lisbon	Vitoria Guimaraes	3:2	W
07.08.2018	UEFA	Benfica Lisbon	Fenerbahce	1:0	W
01.08.2018	Inte	Benfica Lisbon	Olympique Lyon	2:3	L
28.07.2018	Inte	Benfica Lisbon	Juventus Turin	3:5	L
26.07.2018	Inte	Borussia Dortmund	Benfica Lisbon	5:6	W

SUMMARY

Benfica’s first leg advantage makes them slight favourites to qualify for the group stages but Fenerbahce will be hoping to use the energy from their home fans to inspire them to a comeback victory. With two strong attacking teams, expect both teams to get on the scoreline while or a draw or a slight home win are the most likely outcomes.