Benfica lead Marseille 2-1 in the Europa League quarter-finals and now they can finish the job in the second leg at Stade Velodrome.
Against an out-of-sorts Marseille, Benfica showed their superiority in the first leg.
Rafa Silva and Angel Di Maria scored either side of the break to put the Primeira Liga club in control but a second-half strike from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has at least given Marseille some hope heading into the second leg.
But the bubble has burst under Jean-Louis Gasset with Marseille having lost their last five matches and getting back on the winning trail may not be straightforward against opponents determined to progress to the last four.
Team news
Marseille have a lengthy injury list with Ismaila Sarr, Jonathan Clauss, Bamo Meite, Quentin Merlin, Jean Onana, Valentin Rongier and Bilal Nadir all unavailable.
Benfica’s only injury concern is defender Juan Bernat.
The stats
Marseille have lost each of their last five fixtures against Villarreal, Rennes, PSG, Lille and Benfica, conceding 12 goals in the process.
Benfica, meanwhile, are yet to lose across five games in this season’s Europa League.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the Europa League’s all-time top scorer with 34 goals, having scored in the first leg in Lisbon.
Prediction
Benfica endured a pretty miserable Champions League campaign earlier this season but they have gone from strength to strength in the Europa League and can progress to the semi-finals.
Benfica have already knocked out Toulouse and Rangers in this season’s competition and proved themselves in the first leg, when they deservedly came out on top.
These sides would ordinarily be more evenly matched but Marseille are in a rut at the moment, having lost five matches on the spin under Jean-Louis Gasset.
They will at least have the backing of a fiery Stade Velodrome on Thursday night but that is offset by their lengthy list of absentees.
With plenty of key men absent for the hosts, Marseille are light on options and they could struggle to tame their Portuguese visitors.
Benfica have lost only one of their last nine games in all competitions and know a draw would be good enough to take them through to the last four of the compeitition.
With that in mind, they may adopt a more conservative approach to this match and they are worth selecting draw no bet, whereby stakes are returned in the event of a stalemate. LiveScore: Live Sport Updates
