English
Benfica Edges Out Monaco in Thrilling Champions League Encounter
Benfica secured a hard-fought victory over Monaco at the Stade Louis-II in a thrilling UEFA Champions League knockout round play-off match. The game, played on February 12th, 2025, in Monaco, was significantly influenced by Al Musrati’s red card in the 52nd minute. Despite their numerical advantage, Benfica couldn’t manage a landslide victory, winning thanks to V. Pavlidis’ goal in the 48th minute.
The match was fiercely contested, with Benfica dominating possession (55%) and significantly outshooting Monaco (23 shots to 6). However, neither side demonstrated high accuracy in front of goal. Monaco, despite playing with a man down for a large portion of the second half, remained competitive and created some dangerous opportunities.
The yellow card count was heavily skewed: four for Monaco (two for Al Musrati before his dismissal, one each for Vanderson and Zakaria) and two for Benfica (Carreras and Florentino). Al Musrati’s red card proved pivotal in determining the final result. In short, a hard-earned but deserved win for Benfica, who effectively managed their numerical advantage to claim all three points.
Substitutions monaco: at minute 57 S. Magassa came in and M. Biereth went out., at minute 68 T. Minamino came in and A. Golovin went out., at minute 68 E. Ben Seghir came in and M. Akliouche went out.
Substitutions benfica: at minute 67 L. Barreiro came in and Florentino went out., at minute 67 A. Di Maria came in and T. Araujo went out., at minute 78 Z. Amdouni came in and A. Schjelderup went out., at minute 78 A. Belotti came in and V. Pavlidis went out., at minute 86 A. Cabral came in and A. Di Maria went out.
The teams lined up as follows:
Monaco
Titulares:
Benfica
Titulares:
class=”wg_loader”>
