CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Culé Illusion! The brutal statistic of Barça in Champions at home against Portuguese teams
Published New:10/03/2025 - 12:33h
Updated New:10/03/2025 - 15:52h
FC Barcelona seeks to extend its positive streak in Champions against Portuguese teams at home
The FC Barcelona will face one of the biggest challenges it has set for this month of March. The team of Hansi Flick has the complex mission of finishing the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League 2024-25 against SL Benfica. Despite the complicated emotional situation following the recent and unfortunate passing of doctor Carles Miñarro last Saturday, the team finds itself in a favorable sporting scenario to make a statement.
Firstly, the culé team arrives with the series in its favor after achieving a valuable victory of 0-1 at the Estádio da Luz, with a stellar performance from the entire team, especially from Szczęsny and Pedri González. Secondly, the fact that they have to define the series at home, at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, where the home factor is usually an incentive for FC Barcelona, especially when facing Portuguese teams.
This is supported by statistics, as according to historical metrics of the UEFA Champions League, FC Barcelona has hosted Portuguese teams in this tournament since 1992 (since the tournament has been known as the Champions League) a total of eight times. In none of these matches have they suffered a defeat, accumulating a record of six victories and two draws.
| SEASON AND DATE OF THE MATCH | TOURNAMENT PHASE | RESULT |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 28/11/2023 | Group stage (matchday 5) | FC Barcelona 2-1 Porto |
| 2021-22 | 23/11/2021 | Group stage (matchday 5) | FC Barcelona 0-0 SL Benfica |
| 2017-18 | 05/12/2017 | Group stage (matchday 6) | FC Barcelona 2-0 Sporting CP |
| 2012-13 | 05/12/2012 | Group stage (matchday 6) | FC Barcelona 0-0 SL Benfica |
| 2008-09 | 16/09/2008 | Group stage (matchday 1) | FC Barcelona 3-1 Sporting CP |
| 2005-06 | 05/04/2006 | Quarter-finals (return) | FC Barcelona 2-0 SL Benfica |
| 1999-00 | 01/03/2000 | Group stage (matchday 3) | FC Barcelona 4-2 Porto |
| 1993-94 | 27/04/1994 | Semi-finals | FC Barcelona 3-0 Porto |
How did FC Barcelona fare the only time it had to close a tie at home against SL Benfica?
Interestingly, the rival this Tuesday, March 11, SL Benfica, has visited FC Barcelona three times in the UEFA Champions League, being the only time they faced each other in a home knockout match, where the Barcelona team achieved a 2-0 victory with goals from Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o. In that tournament, the Catalan team ended up being champions by defeating Arsenal in the final. Will this be a harbinger of what could happen again with Barça? We will have to wait; for now, the forecasts are encouraging.
