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Match Preview for Benfica v Barcelona
Benfica and Barcelona meet once again in the Champions League following their nine-goal thriller during the league phase.
The Blaugrana will travel to Portugal for the first leg after Benfica edged out Monaco in the play-offs 4-3 on aggregate.
Hansi Flick’s side finished second in the standings, being topped only by Arne Slot’s Liverpool.
It has been 10 years since Barca last lifted the famous trophy, but they will feel they have as good a chance as anybody in the competition, particularly considering the side of the draw they are on.
They will avoid Liverpool and Real Madrid until the final, but may cross paths with Bayern Munich or Inter Milan, who are certainly no pushovers.
Flick’s men scored an incredible 28 goals in their eight league phase games, 12 more than their opponents in the last-16.
They remain unbeaten in 2025, and sit top of La Liga, Barcelona’s confidence could not be higher.
Benfica’s 16th-placed finish was not ideal, but they have still fought their way through to this stage and will not be an easy opponent.
The Portuguese side are joint-top of the Primeira Liga, and are hitting a rich vein of form at the perfect time.
Touchdown! 🛬 pic.twitter.com/DYkjSfyNnB
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 4, 2025
Team news for Benfica v Barcelona
Concerns were raised at the weekend when Gavi was missing from Barcelona’s squad, but Flick has confirmed the midfielder will return from illness for the midweek action.
However, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal and Marc-Andre ter Stegen will all miss out through injury.
The good news for Barca is that their formidable attack, including Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha are all fit and healthy.
For Benfica, Florentino will be missing despite having served his ban in the competition due to a thigh injury.
Alexander Bah, Manu Silva, Tiago Gouveia have all suffered knee injuries.
Renato Sanches and Angel Di Maria will also be out for the hosts, but Bruma will be back following his Europa League ban.
Expected line-ups for Benfica v Barcelona
Benfica: Trubin; Araujo, Otamendi, Silva, Carreras; Kokcu, Barreiro, Aursnes; Akturkoglu, Pavlidis, Bruma
Barcelona: Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Gavi, Raphinha; Lewandowski
✨📸#SLBSCB • #TaçadePortugal pic.twitter.com/4Xx86VDPif
— SL Benfica (@SLBenfica) February 27, 2025
How to watch Benfica v Barcelona: TV channel, online live stream
The match will be shown live on TNT Sports 3 in the UK with kick-off at 20:00. You can also stream it on the discovery+ app.
The Stats for Benfica v Barcelona
- In 15 of the last 17 Benfica home matches the number of goals was over 2.5
- In the last 3 Benfica home matches the number of goals was over 4.5
- Barcelona have won 6 of the last 7 matches in the Champions League while scoring more than 2.5 goals
- In 9 of the last 11 Barcelona matches in the Champions League, the number of goals was over 3.5
- Barcelona have won their last 3 away matches in a row
Prediction
It seems unlikely we will get such an open game again like during the league phase between these two.
But that does not mean there won’t be goals.
Both sides know how to score and it should be a thoroughly entertaining watch for neutral fans.
Barca’s formidable attack puts them in the driving seat for this tie, and we are backing them to carve out a healthy first-leg advantage heading back to Spain.
Prediction: Benfica 1-3 Barcelona
