If the first leg of Barcelona’s Round of 16 clash with Benfica is half as good as the game between the two in the league phase, fans at the Estadio da Luz are in for a Champions League treat. No doubt managers Hansi Flick and Bruno Lage will want to see better defending from their sides than in the 5-4 win for Barcelona.
The German coach has been dealing with injury issues all season, but is only missing Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal and Marc-Andre ter Stegen due to fitness reasons. However he is expected to go with almost the same starting XI that faced Atletico Madrid last week in the Copa del Rey, as per Sport.
Gavi is training with the group. @FCBRAC1
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 4, 2025
That means a return to the line-up for Frenkie de Jong over Marc Casado, as well as Inigo Martinez playing ahead of Ronald Araujo. The only change from last Tuesday will be the presence of Robert Lewandowski ahead of Ferran Torres.
Gavi missed training on Monday due to a fever, but was back in action on Tuesday evening in action. MD agree that Dani Olmo will start for a third game in a row against Benfica though. On the other hand, Benfica manager Bruno Lage is without star midfielder Florentino Luis and iconic winger Angel di Maria though injury, joining Alexander Bah, Manu Silva and Tiago Gouveia on the sideline, but remained confident he could unpick the Barcelona puzzle.
It appears Frenkie de Jong has asserted himself as the starter for Hansi Flick. MD predict the Dutchman will start for #Barca against #Benfica this evening. Inigo Martinez will also continue ahead of Ronald Araujo.
Bruno Lage is without Florentino Luis and Angel di Maria. #UCL pic.twitter.com/iz9bcyxskF
— Football España (@footballespana_) March 5, 2025
The only real question for Lage appears to be whether Samuel Dahl will get the nod in midfield ahead of Leandro Barreiro or not though. The Eagles also have a number of potential suspensions to worry about, as Alvaro Carreras, Orkun Kokcu, Fredrik Aursnes, Nicolas Otamendi and Zeki Amdouni will be all be suspended for the second leg if they pick up a booking. Barcelona on the other hand have a clean sheet in terms of suspensions currently.
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