UEFA Champions League: Round of 16
Venue: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
Time: 2045
What you need to know
Barcelona played with ten men from the 22nd minute but still won 1-0 against Benfica in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) Round of 16 first leg.
Their weekend match against Osasuna in La Liga was postponed due to the unfortunate death of the first team doctor which means they should be well rested for this second leg, although boss Hansi Flick will have a crucial clash against fellow title hopefuls Atlético Madrid next weekend in the back of his mind.
The Catalans look good value to advance here considering they remain the only unbeaten team across all competitions in Europe’s traditional top-five leagues in 2025 (W13, D3).
The comforts of playing at their temporary home of Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys should help them extend that run, given they’re unbeaten in seven games there (W5, D2), scoring an average of 3.43 goals per match in the process.
Those numbers underline the monumental task that awaits Benfica, who have won only three of their last 24 UEFA games against Spanish clubs (D8, L13) and crashed out in the last four two-legged knockout ties against such opposition.
Bruno Lage’s men shouldn’t be short of confidence though, as they won 3-0 against Nacional on Friday which marked an eighth win from their last ten matches (D1, L1).
Three away wins in a row in this competition suggest they can’t be written off just yet, and the Portuguese side have actually emerged victorious from four of their five road trips in this season’s UCL.
Three of those four wins have come by a one-goal margin – a result which would take the tie into extra time – which is perhaps as good as it will get for a side who have been eliminated on five of the previous six occasions they’ve lost the first leg of a UCL knockout stages.
Form (last six game)
Barcelona: WWWDWW
Benfica – WDWWLW
Possible starting line-ups
Barcelona: Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Martinez, Balde; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha, Lewandowski
Benfica: Trubin; Santos, Silva, Otamendi, Dahl; Aursnes, Barreiro, Kokcu; Akturkoglu, Schjelderup, Pavlidis
Players to watch
Barcelona: Wojciech Szczesny
Benfica: Kerem Arturkoglu
Injury list
Barcelona: ter Stegen, Marc Benal
Benfica: Angel Di Maria, Alexander Bah, Manu Silva .
