Get ready for the return leg of the Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round between Midtjylland and Benfica. This should be an interesting match and this preview contains everything you need to know. Read on!
Benfica have a very long trip to this away game, as there's more than 2900 kilometers in distance to cover. This could prove a challenge, at least for the supporters.
It’s busy days for these teams as both were in action only a few days ago. There’s no rest for the wicked, or in this case; no rest for Midtjylland and Benfica.
Midtjylland form and stats
Midtjylland have reached this Champions League stage through battling and winning against AEK Larnaca. Last season their Champions League adventure ended in the 3rd qualifying round against PSV.The story so far in the Superliga for Midtjylland at their home stadium (Cepheus Park Randers) is 0 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat. On the other hand, in the Champions League, Midtjylland has performed like this (both home and away): 0 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss.
The Midtjylland manager Henriksen and his side return home after a 3-3 draw away versus Lyngby. Opportunity lost for Midtjylland in the Lyngby match as a lead 3-0 was lost and what looked like a victory ended in a draw. The versatile forward Dreyer bettered all others in that game and was awarded a match rating of 7.8 out of 10. Dreyer scored one goal, hit two key passes and dribled past the opponent 3 of 4 times.
There's a new game coming up fairly quickly for Midtjylland as they are travelling to their away game against Horsens in the Superliga. That match is three days after this one.
Early season league goal statistics from Midtjylland's 2 home games: 2 goals, 4 conceded.
Benfica form and stats
Benfica was sent out of Champions League in the quarter-finals last season, when Liverpool turned out to be too strong.The Benfica goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos is collecting clean sheets like a laundry worker. It's been 180 league minutes without conceding a goal, and counting.
Benfica won their last game, 4-0 versus Arouca played at home. As mentioned above, Benfica was the only team on the pitch versus Arouca in their previous game, winning 4-0. This could be a tougher task. Midfield player Silva was the top player of the team with a match rating of 8.13/10. Silva scored two goals, dribled past the opponent 2 of 2 times and had 36 successful passes (of 45 total).
There might be some complaints about the fixture list from the Benfica manager Schmidt as the team has another away game coming up in only four days, this time against Casa Pia.
Head 2 Head
Benfica - Midtjylland 4-1 was the product when these teams last played each other, earlier this season. Ramos likes to face Midtjylland and have scored 3 goals in these games.
Top Goalscorers
  A. Dreyer 4 goals |  G. Isaksen 2 goals |  S. Kaba 2 goals |
Midtjylland missing players
Benfica missing players
| Midtjylland | Benfica | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 10 | 25 | ||
| 13 | 6 | Won | W | 7 | 17 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Drew | D | 2 | 5 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Lost | L | 1 | 3 | ||
| 46 | 21 | Scored | S | 20 | 57 | ||
| 32 | 16 | Conceded | C | 10 | 26 | ||
| 92% | 92% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 96% | ||
| 76% | 83% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 80% | 84% | ||
| 60% | 58% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 50% | 68% | ||
| 48% | 50% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 40% | 48% | ||
| 28% | 25% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 20% | 24% | ||
| 72% | 75% | BTTS | BTTS | 50% | 60% | ||
| 20% | 17% | Clean Sheets | C S | 50% | 36% | ||
| 16% | 17% | Failed to Score | F T | 0% | 8% | ||
| 5.8 | 7.3 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.5 | 6 | ||
| 4.1 | 3.2 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5.5 | 4.7 | ||
| 1.6 | 1.7 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.9 | 2.1 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 15.3 | 16.7 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 11.7 | 14.5 | ||
| 5.9 | 6.9 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.8 | 5.7 | ||
| 31% | 25% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 42% | 39% | ||
| 10.5 | 8.8 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 11.7 | 11 | ||
| 4 | 3.5 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 3.2 | 3.8 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Nordsjælland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| 2 | Silkeborg | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 3 | Horsens | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 4 | Viborg | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | Randers | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 | Midtjylland | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| 7 | AGF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | København | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | -1 | 3 |
| 9 | Brøndby | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 3 |
| 10 | Lyngby | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 2 |
| 11 | AaB | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 1 |
| 12 | OB | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -6 | 1 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Benfica | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| 2 | Boavista | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Casa Pia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Chaves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Estoril | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Famalicao | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Gil Vicente | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Maritimo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Pacos de Ferreira | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Portimonense | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Porto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Rio Ave | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Santa Clara | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Sporting Braga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Sporting CP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Vitoria Guimaraes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Vizela | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Arouca | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
