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Five-time Champions League winners Barcelona are ready for a thrilling encounter in Lisbon as they take on Benfica in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday night.
Kick-off is at 8 p.m. Moroccan time at Estadio da Luz, and fans can catch the action live on BeIN Sports 1 MENA, BeIN Sports English 2, Canal+ Sport France, and M+ Liga de Campeones.
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has laughed off suggestions that his side have an “easy” road to the final, after landing on the opposite side of the draw from giants like Real Madrid, Liverpool, and PSG.
⭐️ MATCHDAY! ⭐️#BenficaBarça @ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/DB5WQQps6X
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 5, 2025
“If you’re at this stage, you deserve to be here – and Benfica are a fantastic team,” Flick said in Tuesday’s press conference. “They play in an incredible stadium with an amazing atmosphere. Their fans push them like crazy, so it’s going to be really tough work for us.”
Should Barca knock out Benfica, they’ll face either Borussia Dortmund or Lille in the quarterfinals. But Flick refused to look that far ahead.
“The next match is always the hardest,” he added. “It starts 0-0, and you have to give everything on the pitch. Every team left in this competition wants to beat us.”
𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗗𝗔𝗬 🔴⚪#SLBFCB • #UCL pic.twitter.com/j7BDCLA4sc
— SL Benfica (@SLBenfica) March 5, 2025
The last time these two met ended in goals galore. Barcelona won 5-4 in Lisbon, coming from two goals down to a last-minute low strike from Raphinha after sprinting across two-thirds of the pitch.
Benfica boss Bruno Lage promises another goal-scoring show for fans and insists his side won’t back down from their attacking rigor – even against Europe’s most threatening setup.
“I can’t predict how many goals there’ll be, but I can promise a great game of football,” Lage said at the press conference. “We know Barca score a lot, but we’ve created a lot of chances against them too. We believe we can go through.”
Benfica supporters are desperate for revenge after that gut-wrenching January loss during the league stage. “We need to exploit the spaces Barcelona leave behind,” he said. “They will give us chances – we just have to take them.”
Who’s in and who’s out?
Barça midfielder Gavi is in doubt after missing training due to illness, and Flick remains cautious: “He didn’t train, didn’t feel great. He’ll see the doctor again, and we’ll decide from there.”
Gavi has made 24 appearances this season, although mostly from the bench, raking up two goals and three assists after returning from a season-long absence due to an ACL injury.
Lage confirmed that Benfica’s winger Angel Di Maria and Florentino are out, but that winger Renato Sanches could return. “The most important thing is the team works as a unit, no matter who plays,” said Lage.
Head-to-head
These two giants have only met each other 10 times. Barça won four, while Benfica have only managed two victories – the most recent one a 3-0 win in 2021. The most memorable encounter was in the 1961 European Cup Final, when Benfica lifted the trophy for the first time after beating Barça 3-2 in Bern, Switzerland.
Score prediction
Both teams boast prolific attacking fronts but Barcelona’s firepower could just edge it. A high-scoring clash looks to be in the cards.
Benfica 2-3 Barcelona
