After losing in the Champions League in the middle of the week, Benfica turns their attention to the Primeira Liga as they visit Rio Ave for a play on matchday 26 in an attempt to find some relief.
After losing the first leg 1-0 last Wednesday, the Reds' European adventure came to an end with a 3-1 loss against Barcelona.
Even though football is sometimes surprising, it was never realistic to expect Benfica to win at Barcelona, especially after they blew a numerical advantage in the first leg.
After scoring a brace in the thrilling 5-4 league phase match before securing victory at Estadio da Luz, former Sporting winger Raphinha scored again on Tuesday, bringing his total against them this season to five goals.
Although winning the Champions League was always an unlikely goal, Benfica's exit from the competition means their only chance of qualifying for next season is by securing a top spot in the Primeira Liga.
The good news is that they are still very much in contention for the league title, having made an impressive comeback to close the gap on league leaders Sporting.
Benfica hit a rough patch between December 29 and January 25, losing three out of four league matches and managing just one win. This poor run left Bruno Lage's side in third place, trailing by a significant margin.
However, the team has since turned things around, securing five consecutive victories, including a 3-0 win over Nacional. This winning streak has lifted them to second place with 56 points, just three behind Sporting and with an extra game still to play.
Benfica will feel optimistic about continuing their winning form as they face Rio, a team they have dominated in recent years. They have won nine of their last ten league encounters, including a resounding 5-0 victory in their previous meeting last October.
The only hiccup in this run was a 1-1 draw away from home last season. However, with back-to-back away wins against Santa Clara and Estrela Amadora, Benfica have every reason to believe they can keep their momentum going.
If Petit decides to make changes, Tiago Morais may be given a start out wide because Kiko Bondoso and Andre Luiz have had trouble making an impression and one of them is probably going to be benched.
Although Kerem Akturkoglu is expected to start on the other wing, Bruma, who did not play against Barcelona, should provide Benfica new legs and an offensive spark on the left, most likely taking Andreas Schjelderup's place.
Lage has recently switched up his striker choices, going back and forth between Andrea Belotti and Vangelis Pavlidis. However, considering the importance of this match, the Greek forward is anticipated to start, having scored five goals in his past five league games.
