Barcelona vs Benfica Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Surprisingly, after the two sides had been involved in a nine-goal thriller in January, it was a game of fine margins in the first-leg as Barcelona edged past Benfica at Estadio da Luz.
Kick-off date/time: Tuesday 11th March, 2025: UK – 5:45pm / US ET – 12:45pm / US PT – 9:45am
How to watch on TV: UK – TNT Sports / US – Not televised
How to watch online: UK – Discovery+ / US – Paramount+
Barcelona Preview: An emotional weekend
On Saturday, Barcelona were due to take on Osasuna at Estadi Olympic Lluis Companys in a crucial game in La Liga’s title race but the match was postponed at short notice due to the death of Barca’s first-team doctor Carlos Minarra Garcia on the day of the game.
The Blaugrana remain in contention for the treble with their Copa del Rey semi-final sitting at four apiece ahead of the second-leg against Atletico Madrid next month and they remain at the top-of-the-table in the league, too, despite the weekend’s postponement.
Benfica Preview: Fancying themselves
In the first-leg of this tie, it went against expectation as both sides were more cautious than perhaps expected, albeit that was a reasonable outcome for Barcelona when they had young defender Pau Cubarsi sent off mid-way through the first-half.
Despite that sending off, Benfica couldn’t break them down in Lisbon and, eventually, the excellent former Leeds United winger Raphinha picked up the ball and drove low from range to beat Ukraine international goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.
Barcelona Team News: Coming soon
Coming soon
Predicted XI (X-X-X-X): Coming soon
Unavailable: Coming soon
Questionable: Coming soon
Benfica Team News: Coming soon
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Predicted XI (X-X-X-X): Coming soon
Unavailable: Coming soon
Questionable: Coming soon
Barcelona vs Benfica Prediction
Barcelona’s goal scoring antics this season have been absolutely astonishing with the Blaugrana notching over 140 goals so far this season across all competitions. Benfica will believe that, with Barca having to dominate possession at home and now with eleven men, that they can exploit their aggressive high-line and get themselves in behind with the likes of Vangelis Pavlidis and Kerem Akturkoglu. Barca remain firm favourites but it should be worth watching for the neutral.
Barcelona vs Benfica Tip: Barcelona to win & over 2.5 goals
