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FC Barcelona won’t have it all their own way tonight as they face Portuguese giants SL Benfica in the UEFA Champions League. Join us for live scores and commentary from 4:30am AEST.
After securing a terrific 3-2 victory against Sevilla in La Liga last week, Barcelona travels to Portugal to face two-time Champions League winners Benfica.
Benfica made the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season, losing to eventual champions Chelsea in a tight two legged affair.
After losing 1-0 at home, Benfica pushed Chelsea all the way at Stamford Bridge before eventually succumbing to a 2-1 defeat.
This season Benfica began their Champions League campaign with a hard earned 0-0 draw against Celtic and will be keen to get their first win at home against Barcelona.
Barcelona has started the La Liga season very well and remain undefeated after six matches.
Despite their strong results, however, Barcelona has struggled to play its best football over the past fortnight, registering tight wins over Granada and Sevilla respectively.
The four-time European champions got out of jail against Sevilla last week, turning a two-goal deficit away from home into a 3-2 victory.
With Barcelona’s defence not at its best, Benfica will fancy their chances of causing the upset at home tonight.
Prediction:
Barcelona will be in for a tough night against a Benfica team that possesses some great attacking players.
Rodrigo Lima, Pablo Aimar and Nicolas Gaitan represent the biggest threats to a Barcelona defence that has looked far from convincing in the Champions League.
In their 3-2 victory over Spartak Mosow at the Nou Camp, Barcelona were very vulnerable on the counter attack and will need to be weary of committing players forward tonight.
Gaitan in particular is a dangerous winger for Benfica, and possesses the pace and trickery necessary to really trouble Barcelona’s edge defence.
Benfica will also look to swarm players around Barcelona’s masterful midfield, which continues to be led by Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.
When pressed, Barcelona’s midfield can often produce loose passes and such pressure really led to Barcelona’s downfall last season against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals.
If Benfica can replicate such pressure, then they are in with a strong chance of upsetting the Spanish giants.
An early goal for Barcelona however and Benfica may be chasing shadows throughout the contest. Barcelona are the best frontrunners in world football and will tear Benfica apart when the Portuguese giants decide to commit players forward in search of an equaliser.
With both teams known for playing entertaining football, there should be plenty of goals tonight and it wouldn’t surprise to see Benfica run Barcelona close before succumbing to a tight loss.
Barcelona to win 4-2.