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Benfica supervisor Bruno Lage addressed the media forward of his group’s essential UEFA Champions League spherical of 16 second-leg match towards Barcelona.
Regardless of going through a tricky problem, he remained optimistic, emphasising that if Benfica can create as many possibilities as they did in earlier encounters, they’ve a practical likelihood of securing a victory towards the Catalan aspect.
Benfica have suffered two defeats towards Barcelona, however Lage believes that his group nonetheless has alternatives to show the tie round.
He acknowledged that Barcelona thrive on sustaining possession, pushing ahead with deep runs, and making use of excessive strain.
“The method is just like that of the 2 earlier video games towards Barça, maybe with some totally different nuances within the technique. Barça wish to maintain the ball, play deep, search for one-on-ones, press,” he started saying.
For Benfica, the important thing can be to generate scoring alternatives whereas making certain they’ve the mandatory high quality to transform them into objectives. A comeback victory can be a major achievement for the membership.
“For us, a very powerful factor is to create alternatives, it’s decisive, however we should have the standard to make the most of them. Coming again would give us a whole lot of status,” he famous.
Reflecting on earlier defeats
Bruno Lage is kind of optimistic. (Photograph by Gualter Fatia/Getty Photos)
Lage mirrored on the previous performances towards Barcelona and said that his group had the feeling that they may have gained each earlier encounters.
“Now we have the sensation that we may have gained the 2 earlier video games as a result of we created many possibilities and we consider that we are able to do it now,” he stated.
He remained centered on sustaining the strengths displayed in these previous matches whereas recognising the problem posed by Barcelona, a group stuffed with top-tier expertise and nonetheless undefeated in 2025.
“We are going to follow the great issues, we need to proceed these two earlier video games towards a Barça that may be a nice group, with high-quality gamers, it’s the solely group that has not misplaced in 2025.”
On Barcelona’s high quality
As a substitute of singling out particular person gamers, Lage most popular to analyse Barcelona as a collective unit.
Nonetheless, he did acknowledge that he was conversant in Raphinha from his time at Sporting CP and Leeds, praising the Brazilian’s spectacular performances in Barcelona’s squad.
“I knew Raphinha from Sporting de Portugal and Leeds, he’s doing an important job in Barcelona, who is aware of if he may win the Ballon d’Or.”
Bruno Lage praised Raphinha. (Photograph by Gualter Fatia/Getty Photos)
He additionally talked about that Lamine Yamal is among the many greatest gamers on the earth, although Benfica’s technique wouldn’t revolve round stopping a single participant.
He additionally recognised the threats posed by Robert Lewandowski, Pedri and Wojciech Szczesny, who performed a key function within the first-leg victory.
“Lamine? Among the best on the earth, however our technique is to not concentrate on one participant. There may be Lewandowski, Pedri, who I like in midfield, Szczesny who was the perfect within the first leg,” he added.
Pau Cubarsi’s absence
Lage additionally highlighted how Benfica rigorously analyse their opponents, notably within the absence of Pau Cubarsi.
He defined that his group rigorously research opposition centre-backs, assessing their most popular passing angles and decision-making when constructing play from the again.
“We put together the technique properly to place strain on the centre-backs, we take a look at which foot they use to come back out from behind, the passing traces they normally use,” he defined.
Supply: Mundo Deportivo
