Champions League: Benfica-Bologna X-ray

On Wednesday, December 11, the Champions League returns to Estádio da Luz. After the win over Monaco in the previous round (2-3), Benfica hosts Bologna (8 pm) on matchday 6 of the Champions League, in what is an unprecedented clash between the two clubs.

After five rounds, the Reds have nine points from three wins (Red Star, 1-2), Atlético de Madrid (4-0) and Monaco (2-3), with ten goals scored and seven conceded.

In 14th place going into matchday 6, the Eagles face a rival that hasn't won in its last seven European games (two draws and five defeats). Looking only at this phase of the Champions League, the Italian team is 33rd with one point, the result of a draw at home to Shakhtar (0-0) on Matchday 1. Since then, the team coached by Vincenzo Italiano has been beaten by Liverpool (2-0), Aston Villa (2-0), Monaco (0-1) and Lille (1-2).

With only one goal scored, Bologna has the worst attack in the competition and have conceded seven goals defensively.

Based on UEFA statistics, Bruno Lage's men fired 65 shots. Of these shots, 29 were on target, a better record than Bologna (59 shots, 18 on target).

Still on the offensive side, Benfica had 192 attacks, 11 fewer than the Italians (203), who had 20 corners, while the Eagles had 18. In dribbling, the Reds had the upper hand (63 against 54).

In terms of passing efficiency, both teams are level: 84% for the eagles (1978 successful passes out of 2334 attempts), and, with 83.4% efficiency, Bologna have succeeded in 1820 out of 2171 passes.

In terms of crossing efficiency, the Reds stand out as the second-best team of the 36 in the competition: 36.5% success rate, the result of 23 successful attempts out of 63. Their opponents even crossed on more occasions (80), but the goal was only achieved on 18, which equates to 22.5% and 22nd place in the table.

Looking at the defensive parameters, the Eagles have 234 ball recoveries (3rd place), better than the Italians (198, 15th place).

With 3 goals, Aktürkoğlu is the top scorer for the Reds, while Lucumi is the only Bologna player to score (1 goal).

With 12 shots, five of which were on target, Di María is Benfica's standout player. Orsolini has the most shots for Bologna (9 attempts, three on goal).

Still on an individual level, in terms of passing, Otamendi and Lucumi are the players who have appeared in all five matches. Benfica's captain has a high pass rate: 95.2%, with 289 passes out of 302.

Lucumi, who is also a defender, has completed 331 passes out of 350 (94.2% effectiveness) in the five matches he has played.

Otamendi remains in the top spot among Benfica's players with the most ball recoveries (39), and in 4th place in the list of players from all competing clubs. Further back is Lucumi (37).

Florentino is the Benfica player with the most tackles (8 out of 16) and is 8th in the overall ranking. Posch's opponent has 7 in 13.

In 389 minutes on the pitch, Aursnes covered 55.1 kilometers, while Freuler covered 60.1 kilometers in 444 minutes.

Trubin and Skorupski have made 17 saves, with one of the Italian goalkeeper's interventions coming from a stopped penalty.

Kökcü is also the player with the most fouls suffered (14) in the league phase, on a par with Sturm Graz midfielder Yalcouye.