Benfica battle for survival as Real Madrid eye last-16 spot

Real Madrid travel to Lisbon for the final matchday of the UEFA Champions League league phase to face Jose Mourinho’s Benfica at Estadio da Luz on Wednesday night.

Benfica defeated Estrela Amadora 4-0 in Primeira Liga at the weekend but lost 2-0 to Juventus in their last Champions League outing and will be keen on securing a spot in the playoffs.

Madrid secured a 2-0 victory over Villarreal in La Liga on Saturday thanks to Kylian Mbappé’s double.

Los Blancos battered Monaco 6-1 last time out in the Champions League, and they currently sit third in the league-phase standings.

Match preview

Despite having a combined 792 European Cup/Champions League matches between them (508 for Real Madrid, 284 for Benfica), these teams have only met three times across the two competitions, and not since the 1964/65 quarter-finals.

Benfica have won two of the previous three meetings between themselves and Real Madrid (L1), while their one defeat came in the second leg of the 1964/65 quarter-finals (lost 2-1); a tie they still progressed from 6-3 on aggregate.

This will be just the second time that Benfica have hosted Real Madrid in European competition, after a 5-1 win for the 1 Portuguese side in February 1965 (European Cup quarter-final first leg).

The Eagles have lost five of their seven Champions League games this season (W2), and failure to win here will guarantee their exit from the competition.

Each of Los Blancos’ last four defeats in the Champions League have been against English sides (Arsenal x2, Liverpool and Manchester City). The Spanish side have only suffered three defeats across their last 26 matches against non-English opposition in the competition (W21 D2), winning all five in 2025/26.

Benfica boss José Mourinho has never won in five attempts against Real Madrid in all competitions (D1 L4), making his former employers the side he has faced most without ever winning in his managerial career.

Kylian Mbappé has scored 58 per cent of Real Madrid’s goals in the Champions League this season (11/19), the highest share by one player for Los Blancos in a single European Cup/Champions League campaign in the club’s history.

If Benfica’s Nicolás Otamendi plays in this match, it will be his 100th appearance in the Champions League. He would be just the third Argentinian to reach this milestone after Lionel Messi (163) and Ángel Di María (116).

Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham could become the first outfielder to make 50+ starts while aged under 23 in the Champions League (currently on 49), and just the second player overall, after goalkeeper Iker Casillas (55).

Team news

Benfica

Samuel Soares, Alexander Bah, Dodi Lukebaki and Richard Rios are sidelined with injuries, while Henrique Araujo could be welcomed back to the matchday squad.

Sidny Lopes Cabral and Rafa Silva are ineligible for this fixture.

Real Madrid

Antonio Rudiger, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy are unavailable for the trip to Lisbon due to injuries.

Predicted line-ups

Benfica: Trubin, Dedic, Araujo, Otamendi, Dahl, Aursnes, Barrenechea, Prestianni, Barreiro, Sudakov, Pavlidis.

Real Madrid: Courtois, Valverde, Asencio, Huijsen, Carreras, Tchouameni, Bellingham, Guler, Mastantuono, Mbappe, Vinicius.