Benfica vs Barcelona predictions, odds and betting tips

Benfica and Barcelona will go at it in the first leg of this Champions League last-16 tie.

Benfica vs Barcelona best bets

• Barcelona to win – 5/6 with Tote
• Both teams to score and over 3.5 goals – 2/1 with Casumo
• Raphina to score any time – 6/4 with Paddy Power

S.L. Benfica vs FC Barcelona odds

Find the latest match odds for S.L. Benfica vs FC Barcelona. All odds are provided by our best football betting sites. Odds are subject to change.

Benfica vs Barcelona predictions

The Champions League is now in its 33rd season since the 1992 rebrand. Go back through each of those campaigns and you will not find many more entertaining matches than the nine-goal thriller played out by Benfica and Barcelona in this year’s league phase.

Barcelona ran out 5-4 winners at the end of a breathless encounter in Lisbon. Benfica led 1-0, 3-1 and 4-2 yet still ended up empty-handed due to Raphinha’s last-gasp strike.

Will we be in for a repeat on Wednesday? It is highly unlikely there will be quite as many goals, but this nevertheless promises to be an engaging affair.

Barcelona, for their part, have got their mojo back. They started the season brilliantly and were pretty consistent throughout the league phase of the Champions League. 

Yet they threw away a position of strength in La Liga at the beginning of winter, as a run of one win in eight games allowed Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid back into the title conversation.  

Barcelona have emerged from their slump now, though, and after a six-match winning streak in the league they are sitting at the summit of standings once more.

With Madrid and Barcelona on opposite sides of the draw, there has inevitably been talk in Spain of a possible Clasico final. There is a long way to go before then, but Barcelona will feel they deserve their status as joint-favourites to lift the trophy alongside their arch-rivals.

This tournament has not given Barcelona much to celebrate in recent years, but Hansi Flick has helped to restore their reputation in his first season at the helm.

It would be unwise to write Benfica off, though. They booked a play-off spot thanks to victories over Atletico Madrid and Juventus among others, before dispatching Monaco 4-3 over two legs.

They are patently the underdogs in this tie, but Benfica showed in that 5-4 loss to Barcelona that they are capable of sticking with the Catalans over 90 minutes.

A 120-minute tie could be a bridge too far, but if Benfica are able to establish a first-leg lead this week, they will be in with a chance of progressing.

Amid that aforementioned Clasico talk, Barcelona must ensure they are fully focused on the task at hand.

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Benfica vs Barcelona betting tips

Can Barcelona get ahead in the first leg of their Champions League clash with Benfica?

Barcelona to win

Another perk of finishing in the top eight of the league phase is that you will play the second leg of your last-16 tie at home.

That is an advantage Benfica would have loved to have. As it is, Roger Schmidt’s side surely need to triumph on home soil to stand a chance of going through.

That will be difficult. Barcelona have the bit between their teeth right now having won 12 and drawn three of their last 15 outings in all competitions.

Their attacking quality could overwhelm Benfica, just as it did in that 5-4 win on matchday seven of the league phase.

Benfica will give Barcelona something to think about, but the La Liga leaders should ultimately prove too strong.

⚽ Go for a Barcelona win at 5/6 with Tote ⚽

Both teams to score and over 3.5 goals

We will not be treated to another nine-goal extravaganza on Wednesday, but there are reasons to believe this will be another high-scoring encounter.

Even though there is a second leg to come, Benfica will need to take a few risks as they aim to take an aggregate advantage to the Camp Nou.

Barcelona recently conceded four goals to Atletico Madrid and their remarkably high defensive line invariably gives their opponents a chance.

Yet Barca are the most potent attacking team on the continent right now. They were by far and away the top scorers in the league phase with 28 goals, and are averaging 3.1 goals per game across all competitions this term.

Benfica can make the net ripple in front of their own fans, but better defences than theirs have failed to keep Barcelona’s electric attack quiet.

⚽ Back both teams to score and over 3.5 goals at 2/1 with Casumo ⚽

Raphina to score any time

Raphinha is having an excellent season under Flick, who has really brought out the best in the Brazil international.

Raphinha has scored 21 goals and provided 13 assists in La Liga and the Champions League – a terrific record given Robert Lewandowski is Barcelona’s primary goal-getter.

Only Lewandowski and Serhou Guirassy have beaten opposition goalkeepers more often than Raphinha in this competition.

“He also always smiles,” Flick said of Raphinha earlier this season. “This is what I like the most, he’s always positive, and it’s important for him to be positive, this is the big thing – then you have confidence to give 100 percent on the pitch.”

The former Leeds United forward can make his manager smile on Wednesday.

⚽ Select Raphina to score any time at 6/4 with Paddy Power ⚽

📺 How to watch Benfica vs Barcelona

• Location: Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal.
• Date and time: Wednesday 5th March, 8pm.
• How to watch: TNT Sports 3.

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