Barcelona vs Benfica

Barcelona and Benfica are set to trade tackles in a ‘make or break’ UEFA Champions League Group E showdown at Camp Nou.

Club legend Xavi Hernandez marked his return to the Camp Nou with a 1-0 win over cross-town rivals Espanyol over the weekend. The new Barcelona manager is now entrusted with helping the Catalan powerhouse extend a two-match winning run in the Champions League and avoid suffering their first group-stage elimination in the 21st century. Barcelona started their Group E campaign with a brace of 3-0 defeats to Bayern Munich and Benfica before registering a double over group minnows Dynamo Kiev. Both victories came by the identical 1-0 scoreline as the ‘Blaugrana’ look to keep three Champions League clean sheets in a row for the first time since May 2019. Attacking output could be a problem, though, with only Swedish minnows Malmo (4) attempting fewer shots on target in the Champions League than Barcelona (6) so far.

Meanwhile, Benfica’s hopes of making it out to the knock-out stage could hinge on their ability to become the third team to beat Barcelona home and away in the Champions League group phase. Though this will be their first visit to Camp Nou since 2012, it’s worth noting that the Portuguese giants haven’t won at this venue across their previous three attempts (D1, L2). Having picked up just one win from their inaugural four Group E matches (D1, L2), Benfica trail second-placed Barca by two points. After recording back-to-back clean sheets at the beginning of their Champions League journey, the ‘Eagles’ conceded nine goals across their two group meetings with Bayern Munich, more than any other side on Matchdays 3 and 4 combined. Moreover, Benfica have only won one of their last 13 Champions League fixtures on hostile turf (D3, L9).