On Wednesday, the Champions League quarterfinal matches continued, and after these matches we will already know half of all quarterfinal participants. This evening, the "Paris Saint-Germain" and "Benfica" clubs will try to defend their minimal advantage acquired at home against their respective opponents - "Chelsea" in London and the local "Zenit" team in Saint Petersburg. Sharing his insights and thoughts on the quarterfinal matches with the most visited football news portal in the country - "Eurofootball.com", former football player and now Viasat Sport Baltic commentator Nerijus Vasiliauskas agreed to share.
"Zenit" against "Benfica"
The "Zenit" team, which confidently competed in the group stage and won five consecutive victories, did not score any goals in the first match in Lisbon against "Benfica". Despite their opponents scoring in extra time, they returned home with a one-goal deficit. Before the first quarterfinal match, Nerijus Kesminas emphasized that the Russian club had not played official matches for a long time, and "Benfica" is a stronger team than the ones "Zenit" had to face in the group stage. Vasiliauskas agreed with his colleague, stating that both factors contributed to the failure of the Russian team.
"I think there is truth in both arguments. First of all, 'Zenit' still hasn't played its game after the winter break, and this is a standard problem for countries of the Eastern bloc, as everyone talks about. Despite the fact that there are people who try to deny it, the break still affects. On the other hand, 'Benfica' is definitely not a poor team and is a competitive team. Therefore, the victory of the Portuguese did not come as a surprise."
Nevertheless, despite the failure in the first match, the former football player still considers the Russian team as the subtle favorite.
"Although 'Benfica' won, in my opinion, 'Zenit' has better chances to advance to the next stage."
"Chelsea" against "Paris Saint-Germain"
The first match of these teams was intense, and the home team, "Paris Saint-Germain", with a minimal advantage, defeated the visitors from London 2:1. According to Nerijus Vasiliauskas, the victory was determined by the greater confidence of the Paris team in their abilities and the help of the home field advantage.
"If we talk about the previous match, the victory was primarily determined by self-confidence and demonstrated character. Of course, their minimal victory was also contributed by their home field advantage. In my opinion, this is the only pair that has such great intrigue about who will advance to the quarterfinals."
The French team convincingly leads their country's championship, and according to the commentator, such results in the local league raise double thoughts.
"We know that 'Paris Saint-Germain' seeks records in their country and they have assembled a team that can compete with the best European teams. However, on the other hand, they play too few matches of such level in their national championship."
According to Vasiliauskas, this pair is the only one where there are no clear favorites for the return match.
"I think both teams have completely equal chances to advance to the next stage - 50-50."
Tautvydas Sakalauskas
