PAOK vs Benfica Match Preview

PAOK face Benfica in the 3rd qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. In the case of a draw at the end of the 90 minutes, extra tima and penalty shootout will follow.

In the previous round of the qualifiers, PAOK beat Besiktas by 3-1 securing their participation in the Europa League group stage as a worst case senario. This outcome brings a significant revenue to the club and the much-needed motivation to start the new season. 

At their Greek League opening game last Friday, PAOK prevailed 1-0 over Larissa, after a rather mediocre performance, scoring the only goal of the game early in the first half. 

The end of the last season for Benfica was devastating! In the Portuguese Primeira, they finished 2nd, behind Porto. To make it worst, they were defeated by their big rivals in the Cup final! At the same time, they failed to qualify in the last 16 of the Europa League, knocked out by Shakhtar, and as a result, they lost every title in a season where they had started impressively.

This failure forced Benfica to enter the transfer market with force and come out tremendously improved as they signed several quality players. At the same time, they welcomed their new manager, Jorge Jesus, who is returning to Lisboa after 5 years with one only goal, to bring the club back to the titles.

PAOK has a very difficult task to face here, and in order to qualify they have to give their best performance. Benfica has a much renewed roster, having in addition an experienced manager on their bench. The good thing about PAOK is that they've already began their domestic season, on the contrary, Benfica have only competed in some preparation games.

I think that the way both teams fancy playing can lead us to a fast-paced game with many scoring chances. My choice is over 2.5 goals to be scored, offered at decent odds, 2.03 with Betshop.