Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos is confident his club can stage an upset in the UEFA Champions League by eliminating Juventus, who arrive into the match in a do-or-die situation. The Bianconeri sit third in Group H, level on points with bottom placed Maccabi Haifa and five points behind Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica.
The Greek shotstopper spoke to the press (via Calciomercato) in his pre-match conference and assessed the mouthwatering clash at the Estado da Luz.
“We know the quality of Juventus, they have experience. They have many quality players; we will do our best to face them. But we are very confident, we have a good situation, tomorrow as always we will try to win.”
Benfica play the match just a few days after beating eternal rivals Porto 1-0 at the Estado do Dragao, and Vlachodimos thinks his side can inspire themselves to do better.
“It’s very nice to win the Clasico with Porto. But now let’s think about the next match, we are in an excellent moment and we have the opportunity tomorrow to go on because we deserve it, we have shown it. We respect the opponent, we know the quality, we will have a very difficult game but we will do our best to win. “
Benfica have history on their side, having won all three of their home European matches against the Bianconeri. Juventus risk elimination from the group stages for the first time since the 2013/14 season.