Europa League - Benfica vs Marseille
Match Time: 12-04-2024 03:00 Friday (GMT+
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Benfica

Benfica have been enjoying a solid season but experienced disappointment in the Champions League, where they failed to qualify for the knockout stages, finishing eight points behind Real Sociedad and Inter Milan.

However, they managed to clinch third place ahead of RB Salzburg to remain in Europe, albeit in the Europa League, and defeated Toulouse 2-1 in the playoffs before overcoming Rangers 3-2 on aggregate in the round of 16.

The Eagles have been in good form lately, losing only one of their last seven games, though that came in their last match, beaten 2-1 in the Lisbon derby against their arch-nemeses Sporting Lisbon last weekend, which saw them drop four points behind the Lions in the Primeira Liga standings.

Still, Roger Schmidt's side will be looking forward to returning to their home patch, where they have only conceded one loss in their last 19 matches in all competitions and are unbeaten in their last eight, including six wins and two draws.

In previous European competitions' knockout stages, these teams have met twice, totalling four matches, with Benfica emerging victorious on both occasions. However, this is the first meeting between the two in a competitive match since March 2010.

Marseille

Marseille finished second in their Europa League group behind Brighton & Hove Albion and qualified for the last eight by defeating Shakhtar Donetsk 5-3 on aggregate in the playoffs before overcoming Villarreal by the same aggregate scoreline in the round of 16.

However, outside of European competition, Les Phoceens have been far from impressive, currently down in eighth place in Ligue 1, 10 points behind Lille, who are currently holding the Europa League qualification spot for next season.

Their poor form this season, including failing to win any of their first five league matches in 2024 (W0 D3 L2), led to Gennaro Gattuso's sacking in mid-February and the appointment of Jean-Louis Gasset as his replacement.

Gasset was in charge of the Ivory Coast national team prior to his appointment at Marseille and was let go by the Elephants midway through the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year before Emerse Fae steered them to the continental title over Nigeria.

After a bright start to his tenure at the Stade Velodrome, which included five wins in a row in all competitions, the new boss finds himself under pressure here, with his side now on a four-match losing streak after losing 3-1 to Lille last weekend.

OM have only won one of their nine away European matches in Portugal while drawing one and losing seven, but they are enjoying their best scoring season in Europe, currently on 24 goals in this competition, with only Liverpool (28) finding the net more often.

Prediction: Benfica 2-1 Marseille

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