Europa League
2013-04-25 - Fenerbahce vs Benfica
A Sports Betting Pick by ROzsolt
Football : UEFA Europa League: Semi-finals
Venue: Şükrü Saracoğlu, Istanbul (TUR)
Thursday 25th April – Kickoff time: 21:05 GMT+1
Fenerbahce
Fenerbahce is just one step away from their first European final in a competition that has been won by their fiercest rival, Galatasaray Istanbul (back in 2000).
It seems like the Yellow Canaries have lost the battle with their rivals in the Turkish league and will have to settle for the second spot, but all that would be forgotten if Fenerbahce will lift the Europa League trophy.
Fenerbahce’s road to Amsterdam can only be stopped by Benfica now, but Portuguese giants are playing an excellent football at the moment. Benfica is also the side that inflicted Fenerbahce’s heaviest loss in European competitions, a 7-0 first-leg win in the European Champion Clubs' Cup first round back in 1975.
However, the Turks hold a W2 D0 L1 home record against Portuguese opposition and have registered a solid 2-0 win against Lazio on their previous match at the Sukru Saracoglu in the competition, which proved to be decisive in the tie against the Italians.
Coach Aykut Kocaman has no pressing injury issues ahead of the game.
Benfica
Benfica were unable to reach to knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League and were transferred to the Europa League after finishing third in their group, but they made the most of these Europa League ties and are now just one step away from reaching the final in Amsterdam.
The Portuguese side is the only one left in the competition not to have lost a game this season, Benfica won five of their six games since entering the round of 32.
Benfica’s record in seven games against Turkish clubs stands at W3 D2 L2, but they are yet to win a game on Turkish soil. This will be their first match in Istanbul though.
Coach Jorge Jesus will have to deal with the absence of captain Luisao, but the good news is that Ezequiel Garay has recovered from a slight knock suffered in last weekend's 2-0 win over Sporting.
The Betting Verdict
Fenerbahce is coming into this match on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Gençlerbirligi in their Super Lig last weekend, a result that pretty much put an end to their title hopes.
The Europa League is a different competition, the motivation will be much higher, but so will the pressure, another poor result against Benfica would be too much for Fenerbahce’s fans to digest in such a short time interval.
That’s why I think Fenerbahce will play this cautiously, despite the home advantage which really counts when you are playing at the Sukru Saracoglu. However, we won’t see the kind of domination that we saw on Wednesday night when Borussia demolished Real Madrid.
Benfica on the other hand is a team with a lot of quality that finds it easy to absorb the pressure, they know that an away goal could make their job a lot easier in this tie, but I can’t see them taking unnecessary risks.
I can’t see any of the two sides taking a decisive lead in this first leg, so I’ll go for a low scoring affair which can be found at 1.80 at BetVictor, just like it happened in Fenerbahce’s previous three home games in the knockout stages of the competition, which all ended with less than three goals.
The Pick :
Fenerbahce 1-1 Benfica
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take Under 2.5 goals at 1.80 at BetVictorConfidence: 7/10
