Barca have just had a very sad weekend, when their doctor Carles Minarro suddenly passed away just a few hours before they were due to play. Because of this incident, their match with Osasuna in round 27 of La Liga was forced to be postponed. According to coach Hansi Flick, after the panic, the whole team has calmed down. They want to beat Benfica in the upcoming match in the second leg of the 1/8 round of the Champions League, as a farewell gift to the unfortunate doctor.
Barca have every reason to believe they will overcome Benfica to reach the Champions League quarter-finals. It should be noted that in both recent encounters between the two teams, both in the 2024/25 season, the Catalan team won. In particular, in the first leg last week at Da Luz Stadium, despite playing with one less player for 68 minutes, Barca still came away with a 1-0 victory.
Meanwhile, Barca’s upcoming match against Benfica is an opportunity for Raphinha and Lewandowski to challenge Messi’s historic record. It is worth noting that both have scored 9 goals in this season’s Champions League and benefited from the longer format. They are just one goal away from equaling the 10-goal record of three Barca players in two different seasons in the Champions League: Rivaldo, who scored 10 goals in the 1999/2000 season, Neymar and Messi, who also scored 10 goals in the 2014/15 season.
