Uefa Champions League

Home , Aleksandr Kerzhakov

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - 2014/15 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Lisbon Tuesday 16 September 2014 SL Benfica 20.45CET (19.45 local time) FC Zenit Group C - Matchday 1 Last updated 29/05/2015 07:15CET

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Match background 2 Legend 4

1 SL Benfica - FC Zenit Tuesday 16 September 2014 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Match press kit Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Lisbon

Match background

SL Benfica begin another UEFA Champions League campaign against a FC Zenit side who have a Portuguese at the helm and three former Benfica players. Previous meetings • Benfica beat Zenit 4-3 on aggregate in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League round of 16, a 2-0 home win overturning a 3-2 away defeat. Maxi Pereira scored in both legs with Nélson Oliveira also on target. • The lineups in Lisbon on 6 March 2012 were: Benfica: Artur, Maxi Pereira, Luisão, Jardel, Emerson, Javi García, Bruno César, Witsel, Gaitán (Matić 72), Rodrigo (Nolito 62), Cardozo (Nélson Oliveira 80). Zenit: Malafeev, Anyukov (Bruno Alves 53), Hubočan, Lombaerts, Criscito, Denisov, Bystrov (Lazović 46), Zyryanov (Fayzuin 70), Shirokov, Semak, Kerzhakov. Match background Benfica • Benfica recorded another 2-0 home victory against FC Spartak Moskva in the 2012/13 group stage. That maintained an unbeaten home record against Russian opposition which reads W4 D2 L0 with only one goal conceded. • The Portuguese champions – European Champion Clubs' Cup winners in 1961 and 1962 – are in their tenth UEFA Champions League group stage campaign. • Last season they finished third in their group having begun with a 2-0 home win over RSC Anderlecht, extending an unbeaten first-night record to four games (W2 D2). At home, they also drew 1-1 with Olympiacos FC before beating Paris Saint-Germain 2-1. • In the 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. At home they had recorded three wins and a draw. Zenit • Zenit, runners-up in the 2013/14 Russian Premier League, are in their fifth group stage campaign. • Last year they won 1-0 at FC Porto on matchday three with an Aleksandr Kerzhakov goal, drawing 1-1 with the Portuguese side at home. • They also won 4-1 away at FC Paços de Ferreira in the 2013/14 play-offs first leg (8-3 on aggregate), their first victory in Portugal. • Last season Zenit finished second in the group with six points – the lowest total for a team progressing to the next round in UEFA Champions League history. In the round of 16 they won 2-1 at Borussia Dortmund but lost 5-4 overall. • They began 12 months ago with a 3-1 defeat at Club Atlético de Madrid. In all three previous campaigns they had also started with an away loss, and they lost at FK Austria Wien on matchday six, too. • In this season's third qualifying round, Zenit beat AEL Limassol FC 3-0 at home to overturn a 1-0 away defeat. In the play-offs against R. Standard de Liège, they matched that home scoreline to complete a 4-0 aggregate win. Player links • Villas-Boas faced Benfica on seven occasions while coach at Porto and A. Académica de Coimbra, winning four matches and losing three. • Axel Witsel (2011–12), Ezequiel Garay (2011–14) and Javi García (2009–13) have all played for Benfica. • Hulk scored five goals in 12 appearances (W6 D3 L3) against Benfica while with Porto between 2008 and 2012. • Luís Neto (Varzim SC, CD Nacional) and Danny (CS Marítimo, Sporting Clube de Portugal) have also had spells in Portugal. • Benfica's Rúben Amorim, Nélson Oliveira, Eliseu, Pizzi and André Almeida, and Zenit's Luís Neto and Danny all play together for Portugal. • Benfica's Lisandro, Nicolás Gaitán, Eduardo Salvio, Franco Jara, Enzo Pérez and Zenit's Ezquiel Garay are Argentina team-mates. Hulk and Júlio César play together for Brazil. Match facts Benfica • Benfica completed the clean sweep of domestic trophies in 2014 on 10 August, prevailing 3-2 on penalties after the

2 SL Benfica - FC Zenit Tuesday 16 September 2014 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Match press kit Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Lisbon

Portuguese Super Cup against Rio Ave FC ended 0-0 following 120 minutes. • Talisca scored a hat-trick on Friday – his first goals since arriving from EC Bahia this summer – in a 5-0 victory at Vitória FC. • The Eagles are five matches unbeaten in 2014/15, conceding a solitary goal in that time. • Benfica are 51 matches unbeaten at home in all competitions, since a 2-0 group stage loss to FC Barcelona on 2 October 2012. • Benfica have not been defeated in the league at home since a 3-2 loss to FC Porto on 2 March 2012, a sequence of 41 games. • Enzo Pérez played Argentina's last three games at the FIFA World Cup as they finished runners-up. He started the friendly rematch of the final against Germany on 3 September, which Argentina won 4-2, with Nicolás Gaitán (not in Brazil) coming on as a late substitute. • 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. Zenit • Viktor Fayzulin serves a one-game ban on matchday one. • Zenit are on a ten-match winning run, keeping seven clean sheets in the process, since opening their campaign with a 1-0 defeat by AEL Limassol FC in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round first leg. • Igor Smolnikov had not scored since 1 October 2011 when he struck against FC Torpedo Moskva on 9 August. The defender was on target again on Saturday, scoring the last-minute winner as Zenit beat FC Dinamo Moskva 3-2 when Andrey Arshavin scored his first competitive goal since 22 October 2013. • The St Petersburg outfit had gone 517 minutes without conceding before Mathieu Valbuena's breakthrough goal for Dinamo on Saturday. • Hulk, who picked up a head injury late on against Dinamo, has scored seven goals in his last ten appearances for Zenit. • Zenit beat Torpedo Moskva 8-1 on 9 August, equalling their best ever result in the Russian Premier League set against FC Luch-Energia Vladivostok in October 2008. • Aleksandr Kerzhakov struck twice against Torpedo to become Zenit's record goalscorer with 160 goals in all competitions.

3 SL Benfica - FC Zenit Tuesday 16 September 2014 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Match press kit Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Lisbon Legend

ALL-TIME STATISTICS The all-time record of the competing clubs in UEFA club competition.

UEFA club competition: These are the official statistics considered valid for communicating official records in UEFA club competition defined as European Champion Clubs' Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup Winner's Cup UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Intertoto Cup and European/South American Cup. Matches in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the 1972 Super Cup are not included as they were not held under UEFA auspices, while the FIFA Club World Cup is excluded.

Match officials

UCL: Total matches officiated in the UEFA Champions League from 1992/93 season, group stage to final only. Matches where the official has acted as the fourth official are not included in these statistics. These are the official statistics considered valid for communicating official records.

UEFA: Total matches officiated in UEFA club competition including all qualifying round matches. Matches where the official has acted as the fourth official are not included in these statistics. These are the official statistics considered valid for communicating official records. Competitions

Club competitions National team competitions UCL: UEFA Champions League EURO: UEFA European Football Championship ECCC: European Champion Clubs' Cup WC: FIFA World Cup UEL: UEFA Europa League CONFCUP: FIFA Confederations Cup UCUP: UEFA Cup FRIE: Friendly internationals UCWC: UEFA Cup Winners' Cup U21FRIE: Under-21 friendly internationals SCUP: UEFA Super Cup U21: UEFA European Under-21 Championship UIC: UEFA Intertoto Cup U17: UEFA Under-17 Championship ICF: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup U16: UEFA European Under-16 Championship U19: UEFA Under-19 Championship U18: UEFA European Under-18 Championship WWC: FIFA Women's World Cup WEURO: UEFA European Women's Championship Competition stages Other abbreviations F: Final GS: Group stage (aet): After extra time pens: Penalties GS1: First group stage GS2: Second group stage No.: Number og: Own goal 3QR: Third qualifying round R1: First round ag: Match decided on away P: Penalty R2: Second round R3: Third round goals agg: Aggregate R4: Fourth round PR: Preliminary round Pld: Matches played AP: Appearances SF: Semi-finals QF: Quarter-finals Pos.: Position Comp.: Competition R16: round of 16 QR: Qualifying round Pts: Points D: Drawn R32: Round of 32 1QR: First qualifying round R: Sent off (straight red card) DoB: Date of birth 1st: first leg 2QR: Second qualifying Res.: Result ET: Extra Time round sg: Match decided by silver GA: Goals against 2nd: second leg FT: Final tournament goal t: Match decided by toss of a PO: Play-off ELITE: Elite round coin Rep: Replay 3rdPO: Third-place play-off GF: Goals for W: Won PO - FT: Play-off for Final GS-FT: Group stage – final gg: Match decided by golden Y: Booked Tournament tournament goal L: Lost Y/R: Sent off (two yellow Nat.: Nationality cards) N/A: Not applicable f: Match forfeited Statistics -: Denotes player substituted +: Denotes player introduced *: Denotes player sent off +/-: Denotes player introduced and substituted

4 SL Benfica - FC Zenit Tuesday 16 September 2014 - 20.45CET (19.45 local time) Match press kit Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Lisbon Squad list D: Disciplinary *: Misses next match if booked S: Suspended UCLQ: Current season total UEFA Champions League appearances in the qualifying rounds and play-offs only UCL: Current season total UEFA Champions League appearances from group stage onwards prior to current matchday UCL: Total appearances in the UEFA Champions League from 1992/93 season, group stage to final only UEFA: All-time total appearances in UEFA club competition including qualifying Disclaimer: Although UEFA has taken all reasonable care that the information contained within this document is accurate at the time of publication, no representation or guarantee (including liability towards third parties), expressed or implied, is made as to its accuracy, reliability or completeness. Therefore, UEFA assumes no liability for the use or interpretation of information contained herein. More information can be found in the competition regulations available on UEFA.com.