|
|
OPPONENTS | Benfica (Portugal) |
COMPETITION | Europa League Round of 16 Second leg |
DATE | Thursday 20th March 2014 |
VENUE | Stadium de Luz |
PREVIEW
|
Having lost out 1-3 in the first leg and the aim of the season still
to try and gain a Champions League place in the Premier League
table, Tim Sherwood heads for Portugal with a decimated squad with
one eye on Southampton's visit to the Lane on Sunday. A genuine injury list in the central defensive positions are added to by Jan Vertonghen's suspension, so there may well be a youngster or two playing there, with others likely to be subs, but may come on if things go badly. The spine of the team (apart from centre-half should be strong). with Friedel, Sandro, Soldado and the likes of Lennon, Chadli, Eriksen, Sigurdsson, Townsend and Naughton. A week ago, Tottenham were found out, as the Benfica side moved and moved the ball around well to open the home defence up too often. That was with a more recognised first team and while this will be an opportunity for the players who are selected to show what they can do and there may be some Benfica players rested, the work the team do has to be increased and the tempo and accuracy of passing must improve, along with particular concentration on marking at set pieces. It is hard to see how Spurs can turn this one around, with the need to score at least three times, but they will go to Lisbon to give it a go, but the inclusion of players like Rodgrigo (who has now sparked Liverpool's interest), Gaitan, Markovic and Cardoza could well see Spurs hard pressed to keep them out. The side have fared well in the competition up until now, but the number of games to reach the "eighth" finals has been many and there is nothing gained for getting knocked out at this stage other than the prize money for winning games and progressing in the competition, coupled with the TV revenue accrues. Benfica to go through with another win and Spurs to struggle with a much weakened side. |
PREDICTION | Benfica 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0 |
TOTTENHAM
HOTSPUR TEAM NEWS : Spurs travel to Portugal without Erik Lamela (back), Vlad Chiriches (back), Mousa Dembele (calf), Michael Dawson (thigh), Younes Kaboul (knee), Emmanuel Adebayor (ankle), Jan Vertonghen (suspended 1 of 1), Kyle Walker (groin), Etienne Capoue (ankle) and Hugo Lloris (rested). The team will consist of a core of first teamers, but a number of the Under-21 squad have gone out to Lisbon and might feature, including Milos Veljkovic, Connor Ogilvie and Dominic Ball, who can play central defence, as Spurs are particularly short of players in that position. Others who may included in the squad are Jordan Archer, Darren McQueen, Harry Winks and Joshua Onomah. |
|
BENFICA TEAM NEWS : | |
COVERAGE :
TV For coverage in all parts of the world, check here and here.
Radio : If
available on BBC radio, it can supposedly be heard
in these countries on these stations ...
Internet : |
Benfica 2 (1) Tottenham Hotspur
2 (2) Europa League Round of 16 Second leg Thursday 20th March 2014 Kick off 18:00 Stadium de Luz |
||||
Goal-scorers | ||||
Garay 34 Lima (p) 90+5 |
Chadli 78 Chadli 79 |
|||
Cards | ||||
Luisao (foul on Soldado) 10 Suleymani (foul on Lennon) 90
|
Naughton (foul ) 90 + 1
|
|||
Crowd : , | Weather : Warm, dry | |||
Referee : Damir Skomina (Slovenia) | Assistant Referees : Bojan Ul (Slovenia); Gianluca Cariolato (Italy) | |||
Fourth Official : Jure Praprotnik (Slovenia) | Additional Assistants - Slavko Vinčić, Roberto Ponis (Slovenia) | |||
Benfica kicked off and played towards the - end in the first half. | ||||
Game time : - 90 + 5 minutes. | ||||
Benfica : | kit | Tottenham Hotspur : | kit | |
41
Jan OBLAK
18
Eduardo SALVIO
6
Ruben AMORIM
30
Andre GOMES
Unused subs: |
24
Brad
FRIEDEL
16 Kyle NAUGHTON
42
Nabil BENTALEB 9 Roberto SOLDADO (37 Harry KANE 71)
Unused subs: |
|||
Manager : Jorge Jesus | Manager : Tim Sherwood | |||
Sponsor : ||| = O | Shirt sponsor : AIA | |||
Kit Supplier : adidas | Kit Supplier : Under Armour | |||
Match report
We know money can't buy you love and from the experience of this season, it can't buy you a Champions League place either. . |
Match sponsors | - |
Match sponsors | - |
Match ball sponsors | - |
Match programme sponsors | - |
Match shirt sponsors | - |
What you thought | |
- | -. |
- | -. |
Other first leg scores in this round : | ||||
Anji Makhachkala (RUS) | 0 | AZ Alkmaar (HOL) (win 1-0 on agg.) | 0 | Thursday |
Valencia (SPA) (win 4-0 on agg.) | 1 | Ludogorets (BUL) | 0 | Thursday |
SS Napoli (ITA) | 2 | FC Porto (POR) (win 3-2 on agg.) | 2 | Thursday |
Vitoria Plzen (CZE) | 2 | Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) (win 5-3 on agg.) | 2 | Thursday |
Real Betis (SPA) | 0 | Seville (SPA) (0-2 a.e.t.; win 4-3 on penalties) | 2 | Thursday |
Red Bull Salzburg (AUS) | 1 | FC Basel (SWI) (win 2-1 on agg.) | 2 | Thursday |
Fiorentina (ITA) | 0 | Juventus (ITA) (win 2-1 on agg.) | 1 | Thursday |