Leverkusen v Benfica background

Bayer 04 Leverkusen have a point to prove against SL Benfica when the sides come face to face on matchday two.

Previous meetings
• Benfica won both legs of the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League round of 32 encounter, 1-0 in the Rhineland through Óscar Cardozo's brilliant finish and 2-1 at home.

• The lineups in Germany on 14 February 2013 were:
Leverkusen: Leno, Schwaab, Wollscheid, Rolfes, Bender, Schürrle (Sam 46), Kiessling, Hegeler, Hosogai (Boenisch 82), Kadlec, Castro (Milik 70).
Benfica: Artur, Luisão, Cardozo (Lima 72), John, Gaitán, Matić, Urreta (Salvio 57), Garay, Melgarejo, André Almeida, André Gomes (Pérez 42).

• In Lisbon, Ola John increased Benfica's lead and Nemanja Matić restored the two-goal overall advantage after André Schürrle had equalised on the night.

• The sides also met in the 1993/94 European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals, Toni's Benfica ousting Dragoslav Stepanović's Leverkusen on away goals after a 1-1 draw in Lisbon and a 4-4 draw in Germany.

• The teams in Leverkusen on 15 March 1994 were:
Leverkusen: Heinen, Becker (Fischer 65), Happe, Wörns, Foda, Lupescu, Tolkmitt (Paulo Sérgio 65), Schuster, Kirsten, Hapal, Thom.
Benfica: Neno, Xavier, William, Hélder Cristóvão, Schwarz, Kulkov, Vítor Paneira, João Pinto, Yuran (Rui Águas 89), Rui Costa (Hernâni 86), Isaías.

Match background

Leverkusen
• Leverkusen qualified for their ninth group stage campaign with a 7-2 aggregate win over FC København in the play-offs, Stefan Kiessling scoring three. They lost 1-0 at AS Monaco FC on matchday one.

• After finishing second in their group last season, they went out against Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16, losing 4-0 at home and 2-1 away.

• The 2001/02 runners-up won their first two home games in last year's group stage but then lost 5-0 at home to Manchester United FC. The Paris reverse means they have lost their last two games at the BayArena, conceding nine and scoring none.

• The Werkself's record in 12 games against Portuguese sides reads W4 D3 L5 (W3 D1 L2 at home – W1 D2 L3 in Portugal).

Benfica
• The Portuguese champions – European Champion Clubs' Cup winners in 1961 and 1962 – are in their tenth group stage campaign.

• Last season they finished third in their section, losing their first two games on their travels before winning at RSC Anderlecht. In only one of their last six campaigns (2011/12) have they qualified for the knockout rounds.

• In the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League, the Eagles reached the final for the second successive season, drawing 0-0 with Sevilla FC in Turin but losing 4-2 on penalties. In the preceding rounds they recorded three away wins before a 0-0 draw at Juventus in the semi-finals. 

• Benfica's 38 games against German clubs have ended W12 D12 L14 (W10 D6 L2 in Lisbon – W2 D6 L12 in Germany). Their first win in 19 games on German soil came in a 2010/11 UEFA Cup round of 32 tie when they beat VfB Stuttgart 2-0.

• In their last five European away games Benfica have won four and drawn the other.

Coach and player links
• Andreas Samaris and Kyriakos Papadopoulos are team-mates in the Greece national side.

• Josip Drmić and Loris Benito play together for Switzerland and did so previously at FC Zürich (2012–2013).

Match facts

Leverkusen

• Leverkusen drew 0-0 at SC Freiburg on Saturday despite losing Emir Spahić to two yellow cards before the half-hour. The hosts also ended with ten men, Pavel Krmaš dismissed 12 minutes from time.

• Leverkusen had Giulio Donati sent off after seven minutes as they suffered their first Bundesliga defeat of the season on 21 September, going down 4-1 at VfL Wolfsburg.

• Vladlen Yurchenko came off the bench for his Leverkusen debut in the 1-0 home win against FC Augsburg three days later.

• Ömer Toprak returned from a calf injury against Freiburg on Saturday after missing two games while Gonzalo Castro has sat out the last two matches due to muscular problems.

• Simon Rolfes and Julian Brandt are recovering from ankle injuries. Papadopoulos dislocated his right shoulder in training on 13 September.

• Stefan Kiessling has scored nine goals in ten games this season. Five of them came in a 6-0 win at sixth-tier SV Alemannia Waldalgesheim on 15 August in the German Cup first round.

• It took Karim Bellarabi nine seconds to score the first goal of their league season in a 2-0 win at Borussia Dortmund – the fastest ever Bundesliga goal.

• Tin Jedvaj, who made his Croatia debut in September, scored at both ends in Leverkusen's 4-2 win at home to Hertha BSC Berlin on 30 August. At 18 years and 275 days, he is the youngest player ever to do so in the Bundesliga.

Benfica

• Artur is serving a one-game ban following his 18th-minute dismissal at home to Zenit on matchday one.

• Talisca announced his return from a left ankle injury with two goals in the opening eight minutes as Benfica won 3-2 at Estoril Praia on Saturday, Lima getting the winner after the hosts had pulled it back to 2-2.

• Benfica have won five of their six league games this season, conceding just four goals.

• The Eagles' 51-match unbeaten home run in all competitions ended with a 2-0 defeat by Zenit on matchday one.

• Benfica have not been defeated in the league at home since a 3-2 loss to FC Porto on 2 March 2012.

• Júlio César made his Benfica debut on 21 September in the 3-1 home victory over Moreirense FC, a fixture in which full-backs Maxi Pereira and Eliseu both scored their second league goals of the season.

• Benfica completed the clean sweep of domestic trophies in 2014 on 10 August, prevailing 3-2 on penalties after the Portuguese Super Cup against Rio Ave FC ended 0-0 at 120 minutes.

• Rúben Amorim was left out of Benfica's UEFA Champions League squad after suffering knee ligament damage in the 1-0 win at Boavista FC on 24 August.