After Saturday's La Liga home game was postponed due to the tragic passing of first - team doctor Carles Minarro Garcia, Barcelona haven't had a match since last week's journey to Lisbon. Club president Joan Laporta said that the Blaugrana are in a "state of shock" upon hearing this sorrowful news.

Before Sunday's training session at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, the players and coaching staff observed a minute of silence. Meanwhile, after Benfica's 3 - 0 win over Nacional on Saturday, Benfica manager Bruno Lage expressed his condolences to Barcelona.

In challenging circumstances, Barcelona will do their utmost to get ready for Tuesday's Champions League encounter. In the first leg at Estadio da Luz, although they played approximately 70 minutes with 10 men after Pau Cubarsi received an early red card, the visitors still hold a 1 - 0 lead.

Wojciech Szczesny made eight vital saves, and Raphinha scored the decisive goal, securing a valuable 1 - 0 victory. This extended Barcelona's unbeaten streak to 16 competitive games since their 2 - 1 loss to Atletico Madrid in December.

Although they only need to avoid defeat in the second leg, the Blaugrana are confident of winning at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys. They have triumphed in five of their past seven competitive home games, such as a commanding 4 - 0 win over 10 - man Real Sociedad in their most recent home match.

They will also take inspiration from the fact they have avoided defeat in all four of their previous home games against Benfica (W2, D2), keeping clean sheets in the last three of those meetings.

Benfica would have been bitterly disappointed to fall to a narrow defeat in last week's home leg, especially as they missed the chance to take advantage of Cubarsi's red card as they lost at home to Barcelona for the second time this season after previously suffering a 5-4 loss in January's league phase encounter.

Lage's side quickly returned to winning ways in Saturday's Primeira Liga clash against Nacional, with Zeki Amdouni, Orkun Kokcu and Vangelis Pavlidis all finding the net in a commanding 3-0 victory.

Benfica scored three goals for the fourth time in a five-game winning league run, moving them level on points with leaders Sporting Lisbon in the battle for the Primeira Liga title.

They will put their title bid on hold to focus on Tuesday's crucial European clash, knowing their work cut out to reach the quarter-finals after losing five of their previous six Champions League knockout ties when they have lost the first leg.

The Portuguese giants have also won just two of their 13 competitive away games against La Liga teams, with the most recent of those victories taking place against Atletico Madrid in the 2015-16 group stage.

Knowing only a win will do, Benfica can at least take confidence from their recent Champions League away record, having won each of their last three European away games, beating Monaco and Juventus in the league phase before recording another win over the Ligue 1 side in the knockout round playoffs.

Barcelona confirmed at the start of the month that Andreas Christensen suffered a fresh injury setback just days after returning to fitness, with the defender set to be out until April with a calf problem.

The hosts remain without goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and midfielder Marc Bernal, who are working on their rehabilitation from long-term knee injuries.

Robert Lewandowski was left out of the squad for Saturday's postponed game against Osasuna due to small physical discomfort, however, the Polish striker should be ready to lead the line in Tuesday's home fixture.

Gavi is expected to feature among the Barcelona substitutes, having recovered from an illness which kept him out of the first leg.

Ronald Araujo is set to line up in central defence in the absence of Cubarsi, who will serve a one-match ban after being shown a straight red card last week.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon the injured trio of Alexander Bah, Manu Silva and Tiago Gouveia.

Former Real Madrid star Angel Di Maria will also miss out after being absent from the last six matchday squads due to an injury issue.

Tomas Araujo is a doubt following an absence from Saturday's win over Nacional, while Alvaro Carreras will serve a one-match ban for an accumulation of yellow cards.

January addition Bruma has started each of the last four league games, but he will be ineligible for Tuesday's contest after being left out of Benfica's squad for the Champions League knockout phase.

After making some changes at the weekend, Lage is likely to recall Leandro Barreiro, Kerem Akturkoglu, Andreas Schjelderup and Pavlidis.

Barcelona possible starting lineup:

Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Martinez, Balde; Olmo, De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Raphinha, Lewandowski

Benfica possible starting lineup:

Trubin; Santos, Silva, Otamendi, Dahl; Aursnes, Barreiro, Kokcu; Akturkoglu, Schjelderup, Pavlidis