UEFA Champions League: Benfica vs Barcelona – team news, kickoff, stream

Who: Barcelona vs. Benfica
What: UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg
Where: Estadio de Luz, Lisbon, Portugal
When: Wednesday, March 5 at 8pm (20:00 GMT)

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In the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie, Barcelona, who has five victories, travels to Lisbon on Wednesday to face Benfica.

Barca, who haven’t won the competition since 2015, is one of the favorites to win the trophy, who finished second in the group stage.

Benfica has reached the semi-finals on seven occasions, but only once, in 1961 and 1962.

What did Barca do in response to the favorable Champions League result?

Before their last 16 clash with Benfica, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick refuted claims that his team has an “easy” path to the Champions League final.

Borussia Dortmund or Lille will face them in the quarterfinals if the Spanish giants win the tie.

The other half of the draw features Real Madrid, the 15-time record holders, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Paris Saint-Germain. Barcelona, who have a point lead over them, could only face them in a potential final.

Every team deserves to be here at this point, and I think Benfica too, Flick said to reporters on Tuesday. “In this phase, there’s no easy game. We play in a fantastic stadium, which creates a truly unique atmosphere there. “Benfica is a fantastic team.

Their supporters and the team are very hard-working, and it will be very difficult tomorrow.

The journey to Munich, in a UCL image. twitter.com/XxOXoJwUAD

The winner of the tournament would not be determined by who would be the biggest threat to Barca’s chances, and the team would not be.

Always the following match, “. The German coach said, “Benfica is for us the next challenging opponent.”

Talking about these things is not good, they say. We keep our attention on the upcoming and upcoming matches, which is a good way to do this.

The other teams are doing really well, and they always want to win against us, and it always starts at 0-0. You have to give it everything.

What transpired between Barca and Benfica last time?

In a thrilling group-stage comeback, Barcelona defeated Benfica 5-4 in Lisbon.

Vangelis Pavlidis scored a 30-minute hat-trick for Portugal, according to defender Pau Cubarsi, who said his team needed to concentrate more on stopping the Portuguese side.

We had a lot of chances, but it was difficult. Cubarsi, who made his Barcelona debut in January 2024 and has quickly developed into a key figure, said, “We have to try not to concede goals.”

The 18-year-old remarked, “We have to know how to manage games because this is a two-legged tie, and we must give everything.”

Barca should be competing for every title each year. We are the world’s best club, in my opinion. People claim the pathway in the tournament this year, but I don’t believe that.

What does Benfica think about the Barca test?

Following the nine-goal thriller in the league phase, Benfica manager Bruno Lage warned fans to expect more excitement on Wednesday. His side are second in the Portuguese league.

When they host Barca, Lage predicted that Benfica, who lost their previous meeting to a stoppage-time Raphinha strike, would continue to play football as a franchise and that he anticipates the Spanish giants to do the same.

Because they are two teams that have an eye for attack, Lage said at a press conference on Tuesday, “I can’t predict how many goals will be scored in the game, but I can predict a great game of football.”

“We will go out for the win,” I believe it will be a difficult match. The outcome of the second leg will be more important than the outcome of the first leg, in all likelihood.

We’re going up against a great team, which scores a lot of goals, but we’re also looking at the positive things we’ve done against this opponent, such as how many chances we’ve had and how many times we’ve been in front of the goalkeeper, and how we can get past this tie.

The result of Barcelona’s infamous rip-roaring encounter at Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz, which Barcelona won by two goals, is expected to differ from what Benfica supporters want.

Because they frequently do it, “We will try to find the spaces our rivals offer us,” said Lange. The key to success in Barcelona should be to be able to make the most of the available spaces.

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news from the Barcelona team

Gavi, a midfielder for Barcelona, is a doubt for Wednesday’s Champions League game.

Gavi, who played for Barcelona in their rousing 5-4 victory over Benfica, was on the bench in both of their previous league games and was ill during a training session.

“We’ll see,” He didn’t train yesterday because he wasn’t feeling so well. We have to wait until he visits the doctor again, according to Flick.

Since recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, the 20-year-old has started 24 games and added two goals and three assists.

News from the Benfica team

Angel Di Maria and Florentino, both of whom are recovering, will miss Wednesday’s game, Lage said, but he had faith in the wings’ replacement, Renato Sanches.

Regardless of who plays, Lage said, “the most crucial thing is for the team to function as a team, as a whole.”

Head-to-head

Surprisingly, the two giants of Europe have only ever met once.

Benfica has only won once, while Barca has won four of those, including the season-ticket victory.

In the old group stage, in 2021, we won by 3-0 at home. The clubs’ last meeting up until this year was a goalless draw at Neu Camp, which was the final game of the season.

The other Benfica victory was the pair’s first meeting, which took place in 1961, when the Portuguese club won the trophy in Bern, Switzerland, with a 3-2 victory.

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Source: Aljazeera