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Speaking on TNT Sports, Steve McManaman suggests Benfica have good reason to be hopeful. “They will get a lot of the ball they way Barcelona play … they’re expansive … there’s always lots of space … [Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys] is not a hostile ground by far … it’s an early game in Spain … the fans will be trickling in 25 minutes after the game has started, the way they operate there … they’ve got a really good opportunity to do something, Benfica … this is not the normal 9pm kick-off in the Camp Nou … this is completely different.”
Benfica coach Bruno Lage talks to TNT Sports. “The big task for today is to try to repeat what we did in the last games against them … create chances … score goals … we have big confidence to be here and play our game … we try to forget the environment and focus on the things we can control … we have watched good things we did in both games … we know we will have opportunities to score … so will Barcelona … we know what needs to be done.”
Benfica have lost the first leg at home in official Uefa competition on seven previous occasions. They’ve only managed to turn things around once, against Dinamo Bucureşti in the first round of the 1999-2000 Uefa Cup, winning 2-0 in Romania after a 1-0 defeat in Portugal.
Barcelona have won the first leg away on 40 occasions in Uefa competition, going on to lose just three ties. A very healthy conversion rate, though one of those turnaround defeats came only last year, when Paris Saint-Germain recovered from a 3-2 home defeat in last season’s quarter-finals to win the second leg at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys 4-1. What a game that was.
So there’s hope for Benfica certainly. Especially as Barca are past masters in shipping first-leg advantages in this competition of late: a 2-0 defeat at Atlético Madrid in 2016 after a 2-1 home win; a 3-0 capitulation at Roma in 2018 after a 4-1 home win, and that four-goal mauling by Liverpool in 2019 after a 3-0 victory at Camp Nou.
Barca didn’t play last weekend, with their Saturday match against Osasuna postponed shortly before kick-off following the death of the club’s first-team doctor Carles Minarro Garcia. Benfica meanwhile chalked up a 3-0 home win against Nacional on Saturday, Zeki Amdouni scoring early, Orkun Kökçü and Vangelis Pavlidis following up with a penalty apiece.
The winner of this tie will meet Borussia Dortmund or Lille in the quarter-finals next month. Iñigo Martínez would miss the first leg should he pick up a booking tonight and Barca make it through; Fredrik Aursnes, Orkun Kökçü, Zeki Amdouni and Leandro Barreiro are tottering along a similar administrative tightrope for Benfica.
Barcelona make one change to the team that started the 1-0 win in Lisbon. Captain Ronald Araújo takes the place of the suspended Pau Cubarsí in defence.
Benfica also have a man suspended after that match: Álvaro Carreras is out so Samuel Dahl replaces him at left-back. Florentino meanwhile takes Leandro Barreiro’s spot in midfield.
The teams
Barcelona: Szczesny, Kounde, Araujo, Martinez, Balde, de Jong, Pedri, Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha, Lewandowski.
Subs: Pena, Kochen, Gavi, Torres, Torre, Fati, Casado, Lopez, Victor, Garcia, Fort, Gerard.
Benfica: Trubin, Araujo, Silva, Otamendi, Dahl, Aursnes, Florentino, Kokcu, Akturkoglu, Pavlidis, Schjelderup.
Subs: Amdouni, Soares, Arthur Cabral, Barreiro, Belotti, Prestianni, Nuno Felix, Santos, Bajrami, Rego, Sanches, Oliveira.
Referee: Francois Letexier (France).
Preamble
If recent history is any sort of guide, this already looks to be a done deal. Barcelona won the first leg of this last-16 tie in Lisbon last week, their 1-0 victory with ten men following up a smash-and-grab 5-4 win at Estádio da Luz in January during the group. So Hansi Flick’s men appear to have the Eagles’ number. There’s also the small matter of never having lost at home to Benfica ever, a four-match sample that stretches back to 1991.
But there’s always hope. Benfica have drawn 0-0 on their last two visits to Barcelona, and while that wouldn’t be enough to save themselves this evening, it demonstrates their ability to remain within striking distance of a shock. They’ve also beaten Barca 3-0 as recently as 2021, Darwin Nunez scoring twice en route to their first victory over the Catalans since the 1961 European Cup final. And they’ve only lost six matches in their last 29 away games in Europe, which suggests a resilience that’ll be required if they’re to pull this off tonight.
Having said all that, the curse Béla Guttmann placed on the club appears to be very effective, so even if Benfica make it through, we could merely be witnessing one of humankind’s great exercises in futility. Anyway, good luck Benfica! Here’s to you, Barca! May the best team win. Kick-off at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys is at 5.45pm GMT, 6.45pm local. It’s on.
