TipResumen

INTRODUCTION

Both teams have played four matchges o far and have managed the same results which is three wins and one draw. The difference is that Benfica won two times at the beginning of Portuguese championship and in the previous qualifying round of the Champions League they managed to win and drew with Fenerbahce. PAOK on the other hand played all its qualification in the Champions League. They beat Basel twice, while they managed a win and a draw with Spartak Moscow.



BENFICA

They had a good start to the new season in their domestic championships and in the Champions League. They are doing much better now after their previous season they did poorly when they finished empty handed and let the title slipped past them towards the end of the season. They opened their season with a 3-2 win over Guimaraes. They had a lead of 3-0 and towards the end they conceded two goals. In the previous round of the Champions League they had a great battle with Turkish side Fenerbahce. They won 1-0 at home and managed a 1-1 draw in Istanbul. Now they are just one more match away from reaching the group phase. Last weekend they defeated Boavista in the Championships by 2-0. They do have injuries coming into this match so they will be without the likes of Jonas, Castillo and goalkeeper Varela, while for the newcomers the likes of Ferreyra has found a starting place in the team.



PAOK THESSALONIKI

They have a difficult path to get to the group phase of the Champions League but at the moment they are still doing well. They have already secure a place in the group phase of the Europa League, which they will enter if they failed to beat Benfica, which is their third obstacle after they beat Basel in the second qualifying round. After winning 2-1 at home, they managed to beat Basel 3-0 in Switzerland to show their seriousness about this competition. Then in the third qualifying round against Spartak Moscow, they came back from 0-2 down to win by 3-2 at home. Then in Moscow they managed a 0-0 draw to progress further. That was the only match this season where they failed to scored a goal or failed to win as well. Still their job was made much easiler after Spartak Moscow had a player sent off an half an hour. Now they will play the first leg away from home but their opponent Benfica is very strong. Manager Lucescu is likely to play with the same tried and tested team that played in the previous round.



PAST MEETINGS

They met in the Europa League in 2014 and Basel won both matches.