Benfica manager ready for Barcelona challenge – ‘We believe in our ability to qualify’ | OneFootball

Benfica gave Barcelona a run for their money the last time they played host to the Catalans in the UEFA Champions League.

The aforementioned meeting, in fact, was just earlier this season in the league phase of the competition and the game that unfolded was a thriller in every sense of the word.

In a topsy-turvy game that included penalties, own goals, and goalkeeping howlers, Barcelona eventually came out on top in the 95th minute with a precise Raphinha counter-attack.

Tomorrow night, they meet again for the first of two legs in their Ro16 tie which will be at Estadio da Luz.

Benfica manager shares his thoughts

Speaking to the media ahead of his team’s Round of 16 clash against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, Benfica manager Bruno Lage was asked to give his thoughts on his opponents, the strategy for the game, and the favourites.

“The question of who is the favourite is not important to us, the important thing is that we believe in our ability to qualify,” he began.

Lage’s men gave Barcelona serious trouble the last time the two teams met this season as they effectively exploited the Catalans’ high defensive line and created numerous chances to score. When asked if the approach would be the same tomorrow, he said:

“The approach is similar to that strategy. Tomorrow we will try to apply what we think is the best strategy for the match. We know that we will face a great team with a strong attack.

“But we also look at the positive things we have done against our opponent, the goals we have scored, the chances we have created several times in the opponent’s areas, which did not go far from the goal but hit the goalkeeper.”

Lage then confirmed that they would stick along the same lines tomorrow, and unsurprisingly so.

“We will look at all of that and work on improving according to our current situation.”

The Benfica manager was then asked how important his midfielders and full-backs would be tomorrow against Barcelona, especially to effectively counter the high defensive line.

“This question will be answered on the pitch, not here. This is what we are focusing on. We are studying our opponent and looking for the spaces they give us,” said the Benfica boss.

Ready for Barcelona. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

“Your question is very important, we must know at every moment how to move and exploit the spaces that will be available to us, what kind of movements to make, and with how many players can they be executed,” he added.

Lage then provided an update on injured players and the squad available for the clash against Hansi Flick’s side. In a major announcement, he revealed that Angel Di Maria will be unavailable.

“Di Maria is not available for the match, as for Florentino, there was a question about his condition. Regarding Renato Sanches, we will see if he will be on the list.”

He also confirmed that Florentino Luis will play no part tomorrow in the midfield as he will be unavailable. Instead, he revealed that he had a backup plan in place.

“We have another player who will play, I won’t mention his name, but the most important thing is that the team works as a unit.”

Finally, the Benfica manager was quizzed on Hansi Flick’s idea that Benfica is better rested for tomorrow’s clash and how true it was given that both teams have played the same number of games in 2025.

“I agree if we look at it normally. We have to discuss the number of games and the time between them because, between tomorrow’s game and the next league game, we won’t even have 72 hours of rest,” Lage noted.

“These are more important things than focusing on whether a certain team played or didn’t play. I think it will be a great game because both teams like to attack, and that was shown in the goals and chances that each team created in the previous game.”

Source: SPORT