By Matt Smith
Within the first leg, Barcelona secured a 1-0 victory regardless of taking place to 10 males after 22 minutes. Pau Cubarsí was despatched off, however that didn’t cease Raphinha scoring the winner within the second half.
The house aspect might be seeking to honour the lifetime of their group physician, Carles Miñarro Garcia, who handed away on the weekend simply hours earlier than their sport in opposition to Osasuna in LaLiga, which was finally postponed.
Flick sweating on Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski was omitted of the Barcelona squad to face Osasuna on the weekend, earlier than that sport was postponed, so Flick might be desperately hoping he’s handed match to function within the second leg.
The likes of Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal, and Marc-André ter Stegen will all be unavailable for aspect from LaLiga. Christensen lately suffered a setback, whereas Ter Stegen and Bernal are long-term absentees.
Raphinha the primary man in Europe
It has been a fully sensational season for Raphinha, not solely domestically however within the Champions League as effectively. The Brazilian ahead has solely failed to attain or present an help in two video games within the competitors this season.
Raphinha has performed a vital function for Barcelona in attending to this stage of the Champions League, and he’ll undoubtedly proceed to take action in the event that they go far within the competitors. Actually, no participant on this season’s competitors has offered extra targets and assists mixed than Raphinha.
Di María misses out
Benfica have a number of damage troubles heading into this one, with Ángel Di María amongst those that will miss out. Manu Silva and Alexander Bah are long-term absentees, whereas Tiago Gouveia can be unavailable.
Alvaro Carreras picked up a yellow card within the first leg, and consequently, he’s suspended in what’s a giant blow for the Portuguese outfit.
Can Pavlidis strike once more?
Though Vangelis Pavlidis was pretty quiet within the first leg, the Greek striker has already produced considerably in opposition to Barcelona within the Champions League this season. The 26-year-old scored a hat-trick in opposition to the Catalan giants within the league part, though Barcelona gained that epic 5-4.
Pavlidis has produced seven targets within the competitors this marketing campaign, whereas additionally offering two assists. Benfica might be determined to see him repeat the efficiency he displayed earlier within the season as they battle to enterprise into the following spherical.
Prediction
With Barcelona in wonderful type and on their (short-term) dwelling turf for the second leg, we’re predicting Flick’s aspect to win on the evening and subsequently, advance into the following spherical.
We’re going for a 2-1 victory to Barcelona, seeing them breeze into the quarter-final 3-1 on mixture.
(Cowl picture from IMAGO)
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