Champions League | Round of 16 | 1st Leg

Mar 5, 2025 at 8pm UK

Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica

Benfica vs Barcelona

Match preview

Long overdue for another slice of European glory 10 years after their last Champions League triumph, Barcelona fans could be forgiven for having their eyes on the Munich final, having been drawn against the likes of Liverpool, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.

Hansi Flick's men may still have to get past Bayern Munich or Inter Milan to earn a date with destiny, but they have made several statements of intent in the league phase, recovering from an opening defeat to Monaco to take 19 points from the 21 available.

La Blaugrana's attacking prowess saw them score an unprecedented 28 goals in their eight league games - Borussia Dortmund were a distant second with 22 - as the La Liga title challengers scored at least twice in each of their last seven league matches.

Meanwhile, on the domestic front, Barcelona followed up a thrilling 4-4 first-leg draw with Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-finals with a 4-0 thrashing of Real Sociedad on Sunday to return to the top of La Liga.

The four-goal thrashing of Real Sociedad was the Blaugrana's 15th consecutive game without defeat in all competitions, and they have scored more than once in 11 of their last 12 games away from their temporary home at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

As Barcelona rode into the sunset of the last eight, Iberian opponents Benfica sneaked into the play-off places by finishing 16th in the league phase, earning a play-off date with a Monaco side that finished one place lower on the same number of points.

The encounters were as close as the league standings would suggest, but after a 1-0 away win thanks to a Vangelis Pavlidis strike, the Eagles fought back from 2-1 and 3-2 deficits in the second leg to narrowly progress after a six-goal stalemate.

The thrilling 3-3 draw with Monaco was the first of five home games in a row for Bruno Lage's men, who are now level on points with Sporting Lisbon at the top of the Primeira Liga and have qualified for the semi-finals of the Taca de Portugal following their 1-0 win over Braga on 26 February.

The two-time European Cup winners have been in fine form at the moment, winning seven and drawing one of their last eight games in all competitions, and they are almost always entertaining in the Champions League, where they have scored a staggering 35 goals in 10 games this term.

Nine of those goals were scored in a thrilling encounter with Barcelona in the league phase on 21 January, when the Blaugrana ran out 5-4 winners - the only time in 40 games that Benfica had failed to win a home European game in which they scored at least four goals.

Recent Performance

Benfica Champions League form:WDLWWD

Benfica form (all competitions):WWWDWW

Barcelona Champions League form:WWWWWD

Barcelona form (all competitions):WWWWDW

Team News

Barcelona boss Flick revealed that former Golden Boy Gavi would have started against Real Sociedad had he not been struck down by illness, but the Spain international should be cleared to return on Wednesday.

However, the unfortunate Andreas Christensen has suffered a fresh calf injury and is expected to be sidelined for around four weeks, while Marc Bernal and Marc-Andre ter Stegen are both on their way back from serious knee injuries.

Joining forces with Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal in a fearsome front three, Raphinha is chasing a domestic record: his 12 direct Champions League goals are the third-most by a Brazilian player in a single edition of the competition behind Roberto Firmino (17 in 2017-18) and Kaka (13 in 2006-07).

As for Benfica, Lage would have midfield fulcrum Florentino back from a Champions League ban for the first leg, but the 25-year-old suffered a thigh injury in mid-February and will miss Barca's visit.

Florentino is joined in the treatment room by ACL victims Alexander Bah and Manu Silva, Tiago Gouveia (knee), Renato Sanches (muscle) and former Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria (muscle), but Bruma is back from a three-match ban carried over from the Europa League, when he was sent off for Braga against Union Saint-Gilloise.

In Di Maria's absence, the attacking responsibility falls on the shoulders of the prolific Pavlidis, who scored a hat-trick in Benfica's 5-4 defeat by Barcelona in the league phase and has already netted nine times in the competition, seven of them goals and two assists.

Possible starting lineup

Benfica possible starting lineup:

Trubin; Araujo, Otamendi, Silva, Carreras; Kokcu, Barreiro, Aursnes; Akturkoglu, Pavlidis, Bruma

Barcelona possible starting lineup:

Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Gavi, Raphinha; Lewandowski