{"id":4446,"date":"2025-03-11T01:53:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T00:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weisetech.dev\/fc-barcelona-noticias\/en\/fc-barcelona-benfica-finishing-the-job-and-sealing-the-ticket_311390_102\/"},"modified":"2025-03-11T21:23:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T20:23:00","slug":"fc-barcelona-benfica-finishing-the-job-and-sealing-the-ticket_311390_102","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fcbarcelonanoticias.com\/en\/champions-league\/fc-barcelona-benfica-finishing-the-job-and-sealing-the-ticket_311390_102.html","title":{"rendered":"FC Barcelona – Benfica: Finishing the job and sealing the ticket to the quarter-finals"},"content":{"rendered":"
The FC Barcelona<\/strong> is facing one of its major missions of the 2024-2025 season. The Blaugrana return to the Estadi Ol\u00edmpic Llu\u00eds Companys<\/strong> to face Benfica<\/strong> in the second leg of the Round of 16 of the Champions League<\/a>, aiming for a convincing victory that will allow them to certify their qualification for the next round and continue their path to the sixth ‘Orejona’ after gaining a 1-0 lead in the aggregate with their win in Lisbon in the first leg.<\/p> The team coached by Hansi Flick<\/strong> arrives at the match at a difficult time for the institution due to the passing of Carles Mi\u00f1arro, the first team’s doctor, last Saturday. Due to this tragic event, the match between the Catalans and Osasuna for matchday 27 of LaLiga was not played, so the Catalans maintain their unbeaten streak of 16 matches in 2025, with a record of 13 wins and 3 draws. The feelings on the field are excellent for the team, which seeks a victory to honor the memory of a beloved person in the club<\/strong>.<\/p> The team of Bruno Lage<\/strong>, on the other hand, is on the rise and in their last 10 matches they have accumulated 8 victories, 1 draw, and 1 defeat (against Bar\u00e7a<\/strong>). The Portuguese dream of causing an upset and achieving a victory that, besides serving as ‘revenge’ for the pair of painful defeats suffered against the Catalans in this edition of the tournament, would allow them to advance to the next round and put an end to their ‘curse’ in the Catalan capital, where they still do not know what it is to win<\/strong>.<\/p> FC Barcelona has everything in its favor to seal its qualification for the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Both teams have faced each other a total of 11 times in the European competition, with a favorable record for the Barcelonans of 5 victories and 4 draws, against 2 wins<\/strong> for the ‘eagles’. At the Blaugrana’s home ground, specifically, the balance is even more uneven, as the Catalans have achieved 2 victories, 2 draws, and have never been defeated by the Lisbon team. In total, the Catalans have scored 14 goals and conceded 11 in these clashes.<\/p> In knockout rounds, the only precedent is also favorable to the Blaugrana. Both clubs faced each other again in the 2005\/06 season, this time in the quarter-finals<\/strong>. Bar\u00e7a salvaged a draw in the first leg in Lisbon (0-0) and then won at Camp Nou (2-0) thanks to goals from Ronaldinho and Eto’o. The team ended up lifting that ‘Orejona’ in Paris against Arsenal (2-1).<\/p> On the other hand, the immediate precedents allow the Catalans to hope for a positive result. In matchday 7 of the league phase of this edition of the tournament, Flick’s team achieved a hard-fought but historic victory against Bruno Lage’s side with a legendary comeback (4-5), while in the first leg they secured a crucial victory despite playing with one man down for more than 70 minutes after the expulsion of Pau Cubars\u00ed<\/strong> in the 22nd minute of the first half (0-1).<\/p> This aggregate advantage is crucial for Bar\u00e7a<\/strong>, since, except for the 2024 knockout against PSG, the team advanced in all 11 previous opportunities in which they managed to win the first leg away from home<\/strong>. The last favorable precedent for the Blaugrana was in the quarter-finals of the 2018\/19 season, against Manchester United. Ernesto Valverde’s team won 0-1 at Old Trafford and, a week later, closed the tie at Camp Nou with a thrashing (3-0).<\/p> For Benfica, however, the situation is completely unfavorable. The Portuguese have never advanced in the Champions League after losing the first leg at home<\/strong> (three eliminations in three attempts) and they have also been unable to defeat Bar\u00e7a in four visits to Catalonia<\/strong>. The last precedents were two goalless draws in the group stages of the 2012\/13 and 2021\/22 seasons. In knockout phases, the Catalans won 2-0 in the second leg of the quarter-finals in 2005\/06.<\/p> The Bar\u00e7a<\/strong> finds itself in a favorable sporting scenario to make a statement. Aside from the aggregate advantage gained with the victory in Lisbon (0-1), having to define the series at home, at the Estadi Ol\u00edmpic Llu\u00eds Companys<\/strong>, <\/strong>is usually an incentive for the team, <\/b>especially when facing Portuguese teams.<\/p> This is supported by statistics, as according to historical metrics from the UEFA Champions League<\/strong>, FC Barcelona<\/strong> has hosted Portuguese teams in this tournament since 1992 (since the tournament has been known as the Champions League<\/strong>) on a total of eight occasions. In none of these encounters have they suffered a defeat, accumulating a record of six victories and two draws<\/strong>.<\/p> However, Benfica<\/strong> will seek to maintain its away streak in the Champions League to cause an upset in Montju\u00efc<\/strong>. The Portuguese have played five away matches in this edition of the tournament, winning four of them<\/strong> (Red Star, 1-2; Monaco, 2-3 and 0-1; Juventus, 0-2) and being defeated only by Bayern Munich (1-0). In total, the Lisbon team has celebrated 8 goals in these matches and only failed to score at the Allianz Arena, conceding just 4 goals.<\/p> The Catalans, for their part, are still unbeaten in the Champions League playing at home<\/strong>. The Blaugrana have dominated Young Boys (5-0), Bayern (4-1), and Brest (3-0) and drew with Atalanta in the last match of the league phase (2-2), with a remarkable record of 14 goals scored and only 3 conceded, certifying Montju\u00efc’s status as a ‘fortress’ in continental competition. This Tuesday, the team will face a true test of fire.<\/p> The starting eleven that Hansi Flick<\/strong> will put on the field at Montju\u00efc<\/strong> this March 11 seems to be defined. Although the match against Osasuna<\/strong> was ultimately suspended due to the unfortunate passing of doctor Carles Mi\u00f1arro, the coach did provide the lineup for the match with five changes compared to the one used in the first leg against Benfica last Wednesday.<\/p> The six players who repeated were Szczesny, Kound\u00e9, Cubars\u00ed, Lamine, Olmo, and Raphinha<\/strong>, while Lewandowski, Balde, Pedri, I\u00f1igo Mart\u00ednez, and Frenkie de Jong<\/strong> would come off the bench, giving more than enough hints for what is expected this coming Tuesday. Aside from Pau’s absence, who will miss the match due to suspension, everything points to the German continuing to rely on what is becoming his ‘best eleven’.<\/p>
The history smiles on Bar\u00e7a<\/h2>
Benfica seeks to cause an upset in Bar\u00e7a’s ‘fortress’<\/h2>
Hansi Flick will go with his ‘best eleven’ to seal the passage to the quarter-finals of the Champions<\/h2>