Barcelona welcome Benfica to Camp Nou on Tuesday in a bid to assure themselves of a place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
The Catalan Powerhouses are crawling slowly to the finish line, but a win in front of their fans will assure them a rightful place in the knockout stages.
Barcelona will not need a reminder of how they were swept aside by Benfica during Ronald Koeman’s time.
Xavi’s reign as Barcelona head coach officially started with the Sunday’s visit to Espanyol in the Barcelona derby, where Memphis Depay’s penalty in the 48th minute saw the Catalans get off to a perfect start in La Liga.
Currently they are second in Group E with six points, but they at risk of being toppled by Benfica if they will be defeated, and if they get a draw, it will hardly be satisfactory given that they face Bayern on the final matchday.
If Barcelona fails to make it to the Champions League group stages, it would represent a new low for a club filled with countless out-of-field issues in 2021, but they can at least boast of a four-game unbeaten run in all competitions ahead of Tuesday’s encounter, and they have scored in each of their last seven at home.
Despite Benfica’s 3-0 victory over Barcelona on matchday two, two defeats at the hands of Bayern Munich has left the hopes of Benfica getting a place in the Champions League knockout stages hanging by a thread.
Jesus’s side will force Barcelona into second if they pick all three points from Camp Nou, but they Will have deal with a spot in the Europa League if they fail in Catalonia before they meet Dynamo Kiev on the final day. Benfica won 3-0 in Lisbon two months ago, but have lost two and drawn one of their three encounters at Camp Nou.
Barcelona vs Benfica head to head
The pair is almost at the same level in perfomance. They have had five encounters, all in the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona has won twice and Benfica once wth two draws. Which means Barca has only three points ahead of Benfica.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona 28/03/06
Barcelona 2-0 Benfica 05/04/06
Benfica 0-2 Barcelona 02/10/12
Barcelona 0-0 Benfica 05/12/12
Benfica 3-0 Barcelona 29/09/21
Barcelona latest home form
Barca’s form at home is not quite impressive, but we have hopes than head coach will improve his team for better. In their latest three matches, they have won one, drawn one and lost one all in La Liga, before which they had beaten Dynamo Kiev 1-0 in the Champions League.
Barcelona 3-1 Valencia 17/10/21
Barcelona 1-0 Dynamo Kiev 20/10/21
Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid 24/10/21
Barcelona 1-1 Alaves 30/10/21
Barcelona 1-0 Espanyol 20/11/21
Barcelona latest away form
The Catalans, we can say, are bad in form on the road. Their performance is not an impressive one even though they beat Dynamo Kiev and drew with Celta Vigo recently. Out of their five recent matches away, in all ccmpetitions, they have won only one.
Benfica 3-0 Barcelona 29/09/21
Atletico Madrid 2-0 Barcelona 02/10/21
Rayo Valecano 1-0 Barcelona 27/10/21
Dynamo Kiev 0-1 Barcelona 02/11/21
Celta Vigo 3-3 Barcelona 06/11/21
Benfica latest home form
Recently Benfica have looked to make their form at home to improve. They beat Sporting Braga 6-1 in the Primeira Liga before defeating Pacos Ferreira 4-1 in the Taca de Portugal. In their last five at home, they have won three and lost two in all competitions.
Benfica 3-0 Barcelona 29/09/21
Benfica 0-1 Portimonense 03/10/21
Benfica 0-4 Bayern Munich 20/10/21
Benfica 6-1 Sporting Braga 08/11/21
Benfica 4-1 Parcos Ferreira 19/11/21
Benfica latest away form
Jesus’ side seems to slowly lose grasp of good form away from home. In their last five matches on the road, they hame narrowly won only two, then drawn two and lost the most recent in all competitions. They have scored seven goals and conceded 10.
Trofence 1-2 Benfica 16/10/21
Vizela 0-1 Benfica 24/10/21
Vitoria Guimaraes 3-3 Benfica 27/10/21
Estoril 1-1 Benfica 30/10/21
Bayern Munich 5-2 Benfica 02/11/21
Barcelona news
Sergino Dest has come back fully in training. Ronald Araujo has return to fitness and could replace Eric Garcia at the back. Nico Gonzalez, Sergio Busquets and Nico Gonzalez got injuries during the Barcelona derby with Espanyol but may not be in serious danger.
Benfica news
Roman Yaremchuk and Pizzi could return to the first XI for Tuesday, as Odysseas Vlachodimos returns to his place in the goal. Valentino Lazaro and Andre Almeida have recovered from recent issues, while Lucas Verissimo will remain sidelined with a knee problem.
Prediction and Odds
Xavi is certainly working with a more solid defence and the motivation they have of assuring themselves the top-two spot is invaluable. Benfica either could proof themselves in this game as before, but we expect Xavi’s reign to continue to shine here.
Odds: 1 1.70 X 4.00 2 4.25
Probable outcomes
Barcelona 2-0 Benfica
Barcelona 2-1 Benfica
Barcelona 3-1 Benfica
Barcelona 3-0 Benfica
Barcelona 5-2 Benfica
