Benfica 2.22 v Zenit St Petersburg 3.95; The Draw 3.35
Tuesday, 19:45
Live on BT Sport 2

Benfica
The Portuguese champions prepared for the return of European competition in the worst possible way, surrendering their domestic lead to neighbours Sporting Lisbon and their former coach Jorge Jesus courtesy of a 2-1 home defeat to Porto on Friday night.
This is their first Champions League knockout phase appearance in four years after progressing from Group C with ten points. The highlight was a 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid - whose only other Calderon reverses since the start of 2015 came against Barcelona and Celta Vigo - but they stumbled over the line somewhat, prevailing in a mere one of their final four fixtures.
Defenders Luisao and Pedro Rebocho won't be available for the hosts, who are also potentially going to be without Lisandro Lopez and Ljubomir Fejsa.

Zenit St Petersburg
The Russian champions were the star turn of the group stage, sprinting to victory in their first five outings in a potentially complicated group featuring Valencia and Lyon, only letting their foot off the Gazprom for the closing clash with Gent once qualification was assured.
They haven't played since, a constant disadvantage for Russian clubs at this point in the tournament, which means that their Russian Premier League situation remains as it was when we last checked in, with them seven points off the pace in sixth with 12 games to salvage a fourth title in six seasons.
A lack of action hasn't prevented the injuries from adding up. Vyacheslav Malafeev, Igor Smolikov and Viktor Fayzulin are all absent, while Aleksandr Ryazantsev is a further doubt.

Match Odds
Andre Villas-Boas has beaten Benfica more than any other team in his coaching career and3.95 looks a pretty chunky price on him hurting his long-term rivals once again.
His single spectacular treble-winning campaign in charge of Porto - in which his side didn't lose a league encounters - pitted him against the Eagles five times and was victorious on four of those, including in all three visits to the iconic Estadio da Luz. He even completed the title triumph there.
It wasn't just with Porto that he demonstrated what it took to conquer Benfica though, he also collected six points against them when they were paired with Zenit in Champions League Group C last term, meaning that he has won four times in a row in Lisbon.
AVB's men have come out on top in a magnificent nine of their past 15 away contests in the competition. Their opponents by contrast have continually screwed up the big matches in 2015/16, particularly in front of their fans, falling 2-1 to Porto a few days ago, 2-1 to Atletico in December and 3-0 to Sporting Lisbon in October.

Both Teams to Score
There hasn't been a clean sheet kept in any of Benfica's last five Champions League showdowns. Indeed the goal count has been rather high, with the Portuguese giants scoring two or more in four of their group ties and conceding at least twice in three of the final four.
Both teams to score was a successful bet in four of Zenit's six Group H games too, including the away ones against the sides who finished second and third, so 2.06 is a decent price on another helping.

Recommended Bet:
Back Zenit St Petersburg to win @ 3.95

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