FC Barcelona vs SL Benfica
Competition/Round: 2024-25 UEFA Champions League, Round of 16, 2nd Leg
First Leg Result: Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Marc-André ter Stegen, Pau Cubarsí, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal (out)
Benfica Outs & Doubts: Alexander Bah, Álvaro Carreras, Ángel Di María, Manu Silva, Tiago Gouveia (out), Tomás Araújo (doubt)
Date/Time: Tuesday, March 11, 2025, 6.45pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 5.45pm GMT (UK), 1.45pm ET, 10.45am PT (USA), 11.15pm IST (India)
Venue: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Montjuïc, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: François Letexier (FRA)
VAR: Jérôme Brisard (FRA)
How to watch on TV: TUDN (USA), TNT Sports 1 (UK), SONY TEN 2 (India), SuperSport (Nigeria), Movistar (Spain), others
How to watch online: Paramount+ (USA), DAZN (Canada), discovery+ (UK), Movistar+ (Spain), Sony LIV (India), others
After not playing against Osasuna at the weekend for the most tragic of circumstances, Barcelona return to action for the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie with Benfica at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium on Tuesday evening.
The Catalans come into this one still with heavy hearts after the sudden and tragic passing of first team doctor Dr. Carles Miñarro just a couple of hours before they were supposed to face Osasuna at the weekend, and they were given the chance to process the tragic news for a couple of days and get ready for a monster night at home to decide their European fate.
There are simply no positives in this situation, but the closest thing to it is that the players were able to rest for almost a full week after a very demanding first leg in Lisbon last week. Barça had to play the last 70 minutes with 10 men and were able to play very solid defensive football and escape with a big win thanks to Champions League Raphinha, and now they are back home trying to finish the job.
Having already faced Benfica twice in a span of 7 weeks, Barça won’t be surprised by how the Portuguese giants play. They will be even more aggressive than usual with a deficit to overturn, pressing Barça high up the pitch, looking to exploit the Blaugrana’s high line on the counter and using set pieces and shots from distance to create danger.
There is a very important absence for the visitors, however, as their excellent left-back Álvaro Carreras is missing due to suspension and will not be available as their best option to defend Lamine Yamal. Carreras was excellent against Barça’s teenage phenom over the first two matchups, and his ability to defend Yamal one-on-one allowed Benfica’s defense to not overcommit and stay solid all around the pitch.
Samuel Dahl is expected to start at left-back, and Barça will undoubtedly test his defending ability early to see if Yamal can exploit that matchup. That could prove to be the key to the entire game if Benfica are forced to change their defensive plan, and might open things up for Barça to create danger in other areas.
But beyond the tactics and strategy, this game is about Barça’s desire to win and dedicate the victory to their beloved doctor. Hansi Flick has already said the team wants it, and there should be a different energy in the team and in the stadium as the Catalans look to make it to the quarterfinals in what should be a very emotional night.
Let’s do this for Doc.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Iñigo, Balde; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski
Benfica (4-3-3): Trubin; Araújo, Silva, Otamendi, Dahl; Barreiro, Aursnes, Kökçü; Aktürkoglu, Pavlidis, Schjelderup
PREDICTION
I’m confident Barça will advance in this one and Yamal could play a big part with Carreras missing, but it’ll still be tight and tough until the end: 2-1 to the good guys.