Champions League Benfica vs PAOK Prediction

The Eagles of Rui Vitoria are on the verge of the group stage of the Champions League, for which PAOK Thessalonica is measured in this first leg at the Estadio da Luz. SL Benfica saw how their great rival in Portugal, FC Porto, regained the title after four years of clear dominance of the capital. Rui Vitoria will occupy the Águilas bench for the 4th consecutive season, with the clear goal of reaching the league of the maximum continental competition. With a budget of 235 million euros, the Lusos return to be a team more seller than buyer, as in recent years. Four are the sales that have taken something more than 30 million euros to the coffers of the lisboetas. Portuguese midfielder Joao Carvalho arrives at Nottingham Forest for 15 million euros; midfielder André Horta goes to Los Angeles FC for 5.7 million euros, while Italian Cristante goes to Atalanta for 5 million more. Finally, Joao Amaral goes to Polish Lech Poznan for 1.5 million. To replace them, up to 8 players come to the Da Luz club for an investment of less than just over 15 million euros, which include Shakhtar Donetsk top scorer Facundo Ferreyra, Chilean Nicolás Castillo and Argentine central defender Cristián Lema.

The Eagles have lost their last two preseason games in the International Nations Cup against Juventus (on penalties) and Olympique Lyon (2-3). In the previous round, the Lisboetas won the Turkish Fenerbahçe. Already in the NOS League, the team has added victories in the first two clashes against Vitoria Guimaraes and Boavista.

Eleven Probable: Vlachodimos – Almeida, Jardel, Ruben Dias, Grimaldo – Gedson, Fejsa, Pizzi, Cervi, Salvio – Facundo Ferreyra.
The PAOK finished second in the Greek Super League, surpassed only by the intractable AEK Athens of Manolo Jiménez. The Romanian Razvan Lucescu will sit for the second season on the bench of the Bicéfala del Norte Eagle, one of the classics of Greek football.

With a budget of 54.5 million euros, the PAOK has just spent 3.3 million euros to strengthen with the signings of the left-handed Léo Jabá, for which they pay 2.3 million to the Russian Akhmat Grozny, and the Nigerian center striker Chuba Akpom, from of the Arsenal, for which they have paid one million euros. In addition, the Ukrainian center Evgen Khacheridi, coming from Dynamo Kiev, arrives for free.

In the chapter of losses, the equipment as soon as enters 1.2 million Euros in the sales of the Angolan end Djalma to the Turkish Alanyaspor; from midfielder Erik Sabo to Beitar Jerusalem; and left-back Croatian Marin Leovac to Dinamo Zagreb. In addition, several of its most promising young people leave the team, as 19-year-old center-back Konstantinos Dimitriou, who is leaving for Basel; the also central Achilleas Poungouras, who leaves for Panathinaikos; and defender Timotheos Tselepidis, who goes to Panachaiki.

Precisely against Dimitriou’s new team, the Swiss Basel, the team won both games (2-1 in Greece, 0-3 in Switzerland), leaving the Swiss in the ditch in the previous round and proving to be more than prepared for face this duel. Before the Russian Spartak, they gave the big surprise, eliminating a team with a much higher budget, asserting the 3-2 of Salonica to draw without goals in Moscow.

Eleven Probable: Paschalakis – Leonardo, Varela, Crespo, Khacheridi – El Kaddouri, Mauricio, Pelkas, Cañas – Prijovic, Limnios.

The Portuguese have already won over the Greeks in the two matches they played in the Europa League in 2014. Facing this game, the forecast is to score less than 2.5 goals.

Betting Tip: Under 2.5 goals
Odds: 2.00