Advertisement


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

UEFA Europa League: Benfica vs Fenerbahce Semi Final - 02-04-2013


UEFA Europa League: semi-final, 2nd leg
Match date: 2 May 2013
Kick Off Time: 20:05 GMT
Stadium: Estadio da Luz, Lisbon
Referee: Stephane Lannoy (France)

Benfica vs Fenerbahce Istanbul Football Match will be played on 2-05-2013 in Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (da Luz) (Lisboa) for a second leg UEFA Europa League match. Stephane Lannoy from France will be the match referee.
 Fenerbahce won last week's first leg thanks to Egemen Korkmaz's header in the 72nd minute, but the Turkish club could have taken an even larger lead to Portugal had Moussa Sow, Cristian Baroni and Dirk Kuyt scored instead of hitting the woodwork. They have done extremely well in Europe since the turn of the year, eliminating BATE Borisov, Viktoria Plzen and Lazio without losing a single game in the process. They are undefeated in their last 7 matches in UEFA Europa League.
Domestically Fenerbache won 2-1 at home to Kayserispor at the weekend, they remain in second spot seven points behind league leaders Galatsaray, a finishing position which would see them contest the Champions League qualifiers next season.
A major worry for Fenerbahce will also be that their talismanic striker Pierre Webo will be missing from the 2nd leg after he received a soft yellow card in the 90th minute for kicking the ball away. Also Mehmet Topal is suspended while Raul Meireles in out through injury. Selçuk Sahin is set to partner Cristian in midfield.
Benfica are the current leaders of Portuguese League and they are in the final of Portuguese Cup. In European competitions, they played six fixtures at home so far this season and recorded five victories and lost only to Barcelona. At home, they have been defending very well on the recent fixtures. They have conceded only four goals in their last ten home fixtures. They will miss banned Ola John. They rested Melgarejo and Gaitan when they faced Mairitimo on Monday. 

 Possible line-ups:
 Benfica (4-2-3-1): Artur; Pereira, Luisao, Garay, Melgarejo; Perez, Matic; Salvio, Gaitan, Rodrigo; Lima.
Fenerbahce (4-3-3): Demirel; Gonul, Yobo, Korkmaz, Ziegler; Ucan, Sahin, Cristian; Kuyt, Sow, Erkin.


Advertisement