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Bayern Munich hosts Benfica for the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday, aiming to leave the second leg a mere formality in reaching the club’s fifth consecutive semifinal.
Confidence is high among Bayern’s players and fans of getting past the Portuguese league leader and moving another step closer to repeating the 2013 feat of Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup victories.Thomas Mueller’s injury-time equalizer and two more goals in extra time to progress in dramatic fashion.
The side will hope to avoid such excitement against Benfica by claiming another comprehensive quarterfinal victory over a Portuguese side at home. At the same stage last season, Bayern defeated Porto 6-1 in Munich to recover from the 3-1 loss in the first leg.
Bayern seemed to be conserving energy in Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. Franck Ribery’s acrobatic scissors kick was enough to maintain the side’s five-point lead but the players will need to step up against the Portuguese league leader.
“The quality won’t be enough for Tuesday,” Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said. “We’ll have to play much better. We’ll need two concentrated outings to then hopefully reach the semifinals.”
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