Barcelona are marching towards glory under Hansi Flick both in La Liga and Europe. They are currently leading the league standings ahead of the Atletico and Real Madrid, also, a second-place league phase finish helped them secure a direct qualification for the Champions League Round of 16. They will now visit Lisbon to lock horns with Benfica, having defeated them already at Estadio da Luz in the league round of the competition.
The Blaugrana were down 3-1 at half-time but staged an incredible late comeback, thanks to an injury time winner from Raphinha. Benfica, on the other hand, edged past Monaco in the Round of 32, but the 5-4 home defeat would haunt them on Wednesday night when Barcelona step onto the field.
Predicted 4-2-3-1 Barcelona Lineup To Face Benfica
Defence
Wojciech Szczesny, who retired last summer, is now the preferred choice between the sticks following Marc-Andre ter Stegan’s season-ending ACL injury. The Polish custodian had a comfortable weekend in their 4-0 win against Real Sociedad, but he would hope for a less chaotic event than January’s nine-goal thriller.
Jules Kounde has been rock-solid down the right as he has exhibited a balance between defence and attack. Barca has ample options in deep defence, with Eric Garcia, Ronald Araujo, Inigo Martinez, and the teenage sensation Pau Cubarsi being rotated week in and week out. But the gaffer should rely on experience, and therefore, give the nod to Martinez and Araujo in the heart of the backline. Alex Balde, rested against Sociedad, could replace Gerard Martin despite the latter’s incredible maiden senior goal on Sunday evening.
Midfield
Although Marc Bernal and Andreas Christensen remain sidelined with their respective ligament and foot injuries, Flick is blessed with depth and quality in the middle of the park. Several academy prospects are enjoying a breakthrough season, and Marc Casado, one such name, must keep his place alongside Pedri as the ‘double pivot’. Frenkie de Jong could also be introduced to orchestrate the tempo as a second-half substitute.
Barcelona are lethal upfront, primarily due to the flair and finesse of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha down the flanks. They would cause menace in the Benfica backline, and so is Dani Olmo, who must depict his creative spark as a ‘number 10’. Ferran Torres, Gavi, Fermin Lopez, Pablo Torre and Pau Victor are also there who could inject pace, directness and prowess in and around the attacking third.
Attack
Robert Lewandowski is still going strong at 36 as the Polish hitman must look to add more having notched in 34 goals in 37 games across competitions.
