Spartak Moscow vs. Benfica: Preview and betting tips

While Spartak Moscow already have the advantage of having two league games under their belt, Benfica have only played a few preliminary games. Will the Russian side take advantage of the sharp matches to beat the favourite?

Benfica have had a very unsuccessful season from their point of view, finishing only third in the Portuguese league. So now they will try to fight their way into the Champions League through a very tough qualification, which is often a big unknown for undefeated teams.

But the Portuguese side has already faced Spartak. It was in the autumn of 2012, when they first lost 2-1 in Moscow and won 2-0 at home. Such a result would have been enough for Benfica to qualify.

The team led by coach Jorge Jesus has transformed quite a lot over the summer, and its current value is around 325 million euros. The coach of the Russian team, Rui Vitória, has a significantly lower budget, with his team valued at 145 million euros.

There is a lot of talent in Benfica, and they are playing a rematch at home, which shouldn’t make it a problem for them to make it through to the next round of qualifying. It’s just that a relatively revamped team is a big question mark.

However, they had a good pre-season and the 1-0 win over Lille and the 1-1 draw with Marseille says something. Spartak lost to Rubin Kazan to start the season and then beat Samara.

In my opinion, Benfica will be the happier team in the end, but they certainly won’t have it easy in Russia. Anyway, the tip for not losing the opening game looks very promising. Especially a draw is very realistic here.