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Barcelona return to motion within the UEFA Champions League knockout tomorrow night time and can look to eliminate the curse they’ve confronted within the knockout stage of the competitors in recent times.
Having completed second within the standings after the lengthy league part, the Catalans earned a beneficial draw for the Spherical of 16 and a comparatively simpler facet of the draw within the bigger scheme of issues.
They first face Benfica over two legs for a spot within the quarter-final, the primary of which is able to kick off in simply over 24 hours at Estadio da Luz.
Barcelona beat the identical opponent on the identical venue by a slim 5-4 scoreline once they met earlier this season, and if that’s something to go by, one can anticipate fireworks tomorrow.
Barça Common brings you three speaking factors forward of Barcelona vs Benfica.
Classes to be learnt
Only a few groups have managed to take advantage of Barcelona’s excessive line of defense this season as successfully as Benfica did when the 2 groups met earlier on this season’s UEFA Champions League, and it’s exhausting to disregard the identical heading into tomorrow’s conflict.
It was on Matchday 7 that the 2 groups locked horns on the identical venue as they may tomorrow, Estadio da Luz, and Benfica tormented Barcelona with immaculate play for an incredible a part of the sport.
The Portuguese outfit got here out like a well-oiled machine, clear on the place to use strain and create openings to take advantage of Barcelona’s excessive line.
They timed their runs from midfield to perfection, beating the offside lure which was in any other case leak-proof, and racked up an xG of three.34 in opposition to Barcelona in 90 minutes.
Heading into tomorrow’s conflict, all eyes will thus be on whether or not Hansi Flick makes any adjustments to his defensive setup and the way he counters the recognized menace.
Ronald Araujo began the workforce’s final recreation, however Inigo Martinez will nearly actually return alongside Pau Cubarsi tomorrow to maintain the offside lure alert and well-executed.
Alejandro Balde may even return to the lineup given his good run of type and improved alertness within the offside lure. All eyes may even be on Jules Kounde who might be on the lookout for redemption after a poor displaying within the final assembly.
The necessity for a strong midfield
Marc Casado or Frenkie de Jong in midfield? (Photograph by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Photos)
Whereas Benfica’s forwards did execute their runs to perfection to counter Barcelona’s excessive line within the final assembly, it was the midfield battle that the Portuguese facet dominated so long as they have been on the entrance foot.
Barcelona deployed Pedri, Gavi and Marc Casado to finish duties in the course of the park, however they have been usually overwhelmed by the fixed strain and immaculate mixture play between Florentino Luis and the wingers.
To make sure they don’t concede tomorrow, Barcelona’s midfield should thus be strong from the get-go and Hansi Flick’s collection of personnel will account for a big a part of the outcome.
Pedri, for starters, is a assured identify on the workforce record and might be a significant cog if Barcelona are to dominate the possession and flow into the ball.
Flick’s first massive choice might be to decide on between Marc Casado and Frenkie de Jong. Whereas the Dutchman did relaxation within the workforce’s final recreation, Casado might effectively present the additional defensive stability Barcelona require off the ball.
For the third midfield spot, it’s between Gavi, Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo. Provided that the previous is unwell and Olmo had an incredible outing on the weekend, the Euro winner is more likely to begin tomorrow night time.
Making a cushion
Having completed within the prime 8 of the UEFA Champions League group stage, Barcelona earned the privilege of enjoying the second leg at dwelling.
Tomorrow night time is thus the tougher of their two legs in opposition to Benfica within the Spherical of 16 and the target might be to take dwelling a beneficial end in any capability.
Estadio da Luz will not be a straightforward venue to take dwelling outcome from and the final assembly between the 2 groups serves as a testomony to the identical.
Barcelona’s goal tomorrow, thus, needs to be on conceding as few targets as potential and even maybe taking dwelling a win to construct on at dwelling.
Benfica supervisor Bruno Lage reiterated repeatedly in his pre-match press convention that tomorrow night time’s recreation will not be essential within the grand scheme and that solely the sport at Montjuic might be decisive.
Having the house benefit already for the reverse fixture, any benefit Barcelona can deliver dwelling will get them that a lot nearer to qualification.
