Barcelona have only lost one of their last 10 games against Benfica in European competition (W5 D4), while they are unbeaten in the four occasions when they’ve hosted the Portuguese side (W2 D2).
Barcelona have already beaten Benfica twice in the UEFA Champions League this season, with both victories coming away from home (5-4 in January and 1-0 last week). Benfica have never previously been beaten three times by the same opponent in the same European campaign.
Benfica haven’t won any of their four away games against Barcelona in European competition (D2 L2), while they’ve failed to score a goal in each of the last three. The only opponents they’ve faced more often away from home in Europe without ever winning are Bayern Munich (7) and Manchester United (5).
The last Portuguese side to win away to Barcelona in European competition was FC Porto in September 1972 (1-0 in the UEFA Cup). Since then, Portuguese teams haven’t won any of their 14 away games there, with 12 of those ending in defeats (D2).
Benfica have been eliminated on five of the previous six occasions when losing the first leg of a UEFA Champions League knockout stage tie, only once managing to come back to progress – versus Zenit St Petersburg in the last 16 in 2011-12 (lost 2-3 in first leg, won 2-0 in the second).
Barcelona are unbeaten in their last eight games in the UEFA Champions League (W7 D1), the longest current run in the competition. They last had a longer unbeaten run within the same Champions League campaign in 2018-19 (11 games), when they were one game away from reaching the final (eliminated by Liverpool in the semi-finals).
Barcelona won 1-0 in the first leg against Benfica last week, despite seeing Pau Cubarsí sent off in the 22nd minute when the game was 0-0. This is the earliest a team have had a man sent off in a UEFA Champions League knockout stage match and still gone on to win.
Raphinha has been directly involved in 20 goals in 21 UEFA Champions League appearances for Barcelona (12 goals, eight assists), including netting the winner against Benfica last week. His average of a goal or assist every 76 minutes is currently the best ratio by any Brazilian player with 10+ appearances in the competition.
Vangelis Pavlidis has netted seven goals in the UEFA Champions League this season, with 1964-65 being the last time a Benfica player scored more in a single European Cup/Champions League campaign (nine by Eusébio and José Torres). His six shots in last week’s first leg against Barcelona were his most in a game in the competition without scoring, however.
Pedri leads all Barcelona players in the UEFA Champions League this season for line-breaking passes in the opposition half (57), passes completed in the opposition half (307), and high-intensity pressures applied (385).