Benfica vs Barcelona Champions League preview: Where to watch, predicted line-ups, team news
Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Article summary
Where to watch, predicted line-ups, team news, form and coaches' views ahead of the round of 16 first leg.
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Benfica face Barcelona in Lisbon for the second time this UEFA Champions League season as their round of 16 tie kicks off.
Match at a glance
When: 5 March (21:00 CET)
Where: Estádio do SL Benfica, Lisbon
What: Champions League round of 16 first leg
Who: A two-time and a five-time winner of this competition.
How to follow: Build-up and live coverage can be found here
Where to watch the game on TV
Fans can find their local UEFA Champions League broadcast partner(s) here.
What do you need to know?
Records came toppling down when these sides met in January, Barcelona emerging victorious in the first Champions League game to finish 5-4 thanks to Raphinha's late winner. Benfica's Vangelis Pavlidis became only the second Greek international to score a Champions League hat-trick, while Robert Lewandowski struck for the fifth consecutive game against the Portuguese club, his pair of penalties taking his tally to nine goals in that span. The Barcelona forward and coach Hansi Flick won the 2021 Champions League final at Benfica's ground during their time at Bayern München and they will be eyeing another memorable victory in Lisbon.
Possible line-ups
Benfica: Trubin;Tomás Araújo, António Silva, Otamendi, Carreras; Barreiro, Aursnes, Kökçü; Dahl, Aktürkoğlu, Pavlidis
Barcelona: Szczęsny; Koundé, Ronald Araújo, Iñigo Martínez, Balde; De Jong, Pedri, Olmo; Yamal, Raphinha; Lewandowski
Form guide
Form: WWDWWW
Latest: Benfica 1-0 Braga, Portuguese Cup, 26/02
Form: WDWWWW
Latest: Barcelona 4-0 Real Sociedad, La Liga, 02/03
What the coaches say
Bruno Lage, Benfica coach: "Our preparation has been the same [as before the league phase game vs Barcelona], but the strategy may be slightly different. We are facing a great team who score many goals, but we must focus on the good things we did against them, such as the many chances we created. We must believe we can progress.
"We are not interested in whether Barcelona are the favourites or not. I am simply fully focused on what we can achieve. We are alive in the Champions League, in the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup, the Primeira Liga remains within our hands and we've already won one trophy [the Portuguese League Cup]. Our objective is for more silverware this season."
Hansi Flick, Barcelona coach: "The film lasts for 180 minutes. We expect to face a very good team, one of the best in this tournament so far. We will have to play much better than them in order to progress. We feel better prepared than we were in the league phase game and with a better dynamic.
"There is no easy match at this phase. Benfica are a fantastic rival that have a stadium with a special atmosphere. It will be difficult, and we are not thinking beyond this tie. We start at 0-0 and we have to give everything."
