Champions League: Barcelona-Benfica X-ray

Determined to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Benfica face Barcelona on Tuesday, March 11, at 5:45 pm (continental time), at the Estadio Olímpico Lluís Companys, in the second leg of the competition's round of 16.

It will be the 3rd match between Benfica and Barcelona in the 2024/25 season, this time at the home of the Blaugrana team, after the matches for matchday 7 of the league phase (4-5) and the 1st leg of the round of 16 (0-1).

As visitors in this season's Champions League matches, Benfica's record includes wins against Red Star (1-2), Monaco (2-3 and 0-1) and Juventus (0-2), in four of the five away games, including the play-off for the knockout phase, which Barcelona did not play.

In the league phase of the Champions League, the Catalan side beat Young Boys (5-0), Bayern Munich (4-1), Red Star (2-5), Brest (3-0), Dortmund (2-3) and Benfica (4-5); they drew with Atalanta (2-2) and suffered their only defeat (2-1) against Monaco. Barcelona scored 19 points and came 2nd out of the 36 teams taking part in the league phase.

Pavlidis e Lewandowski are the teams' two top scorers, with 7 and 9 goals respectively.

In terms of shots, Benfica's forward is the player with the most shots (30 shots, 2.72 per game), while Raphinha has 37 shots (an average of 4.11 per game). The Brazilian international also has five passes for goals, while the assists for the Eagles are shared by Pavlidis, Di María, Álvaro Carreras and Bah (and also Beste, who has since left the club), all with two.

Collectively, Benfica have taken a total of 164 shots, which translates into an average of 14.9 per game, a figure that increased precisely after the last clash with Barcelona, in which the Eagles fired 26 times. Barcelona, on the other hand, have 136 shots (an average of 15.11 per game).

Still on the offensive side, Benfica have three fewer attacks than Barcelona (445 and 40.45 per game on average, compared to 448 and 49.77 per game).

The Eagles' crossing efficiency is the best in the competition at 32.3% (50 out of 155), while Barcelona's is 23.6% (26 out of 110).

Still using UEFA statistics as a reference, the Catalans have 87.7% pass efficiency (5,193 attempted and 4,593 correct), compared to Benfica's 81.3% (4,631 attempted and 3,816 correct), while in terms of recoveries of possession, the eagles are the team with the highest number so far in the competition (493 and an average of 44.81 per game). Barcelona have 304 recoveries and an average of 33.77 per game.

If they lead the way in recoveries, the Eagles are in 2nd place with 188 tackles (17.09 per game). Barcelona are 24th with 120 tackles (13.33 per game).

Otamendi is the 4th player in the competition with the most ball recoveries (75 and 6.81 per game), while Casadó is the most important player on the Barcelona side, with a total of 40 and an average of 4.44 per game.

In terms of tackles, Casadó is once again on a high level: he's the 2nd player in the competition with 34 tackles (3.77 per game). Florentino is in the top 6 with 29 tackles (2.63 per game).