Predictions
Top Leagues
Benfica
4 - 5
FT
FC Barcelona
Jan 19, 2025
In the seventh round of the first phase of the Champions League, there is a match that better than any other embodies the prestige and glory of the top European competition and that is the one that will see Benfica and Barcelona face off. Like almost all thirty-two participants in the Champions League, the two teams, 180 minutes from the end of the games, still don't know their fate. Benfica is fifteenth and still has all the chances open: that of direct passage into the top eight (difficult), the most likely one of the playoffs but also that of elimination. Barcelona, on the other hand, second alone, has a decidedly better prospect because it has already earned survival and, most likely, also the direct Round of 16. This implies that the pressure, especially after the last 0-0 of the Champions League at home against Bologna, will be on the Portuguese Eagles who, however, are in form in the league, have started 2025 great and are looking for at least one point. Barcelona, on the other hand, is not finding consistency in the league but in the rest of the competitions, so it wouldn't be surprising if, even without the sacred fire, they managed to play another great European match this season with the enormous technique of their men.
Benfica's Champions League, with 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses, has been sufficient so far, although it weighs on the Eagles for having started with 2 wins in the first 2, which had made the Portuguese foresee an easier path.
Ahead of Tuesday's match, however, Benfica will present themselves very well, fresh from a 4-0 win in the league against Famalicao, which adds a nice piece to an excellent cycle of 4 games that saw the victory in the Portuguese League Cup against Sporting, defeated on penalties.
Overall, Benfica's home performance has also been good, having won 8 of their last 10 games, drawing 1 and losing only against Braga at the beginning of January.
4 wins and 1 draw in the last 5 after a landslide victory over Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup would seem to be a snapshot of a perfect moment for Barcelona, who instead had to suffer another disappointment in La Liga in the draw against Getafe which distances the Blaugrana from the top, now 7 points away.
Their performance in the Champions League has been excellent, however, where the Catalans have collected 5 wins in 6 games, scoring like no other team: 21 goals in 6 matches, an average of 3.5 per game.
The top scorer (of the competition and therefore of the team) is Robert Lewandowski, who has already scored 7 times in this Champions League.
The immediate prospect we see for this match, especially considering Benfica's excellent moment and its good internal record, is to see both teams score: the Eagles are doing very well, they are scoring a lot, at home they can always have their say and they will face the best attack of the tournament which, in the Champions League, for now, is performing at a very high level. The BetMines algorithm prediction therefore sees both Benfica and Barcelona scoring.
Benfica (4-3-3): Trubin; Bah, Silva, Otamendi, Carreras; Aursnes, Florentino, Kokçu; Di Maria, Pavlidis; Akturcoglu. Coach: Lage.
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Inaki Pena; Koundé, Cubarsi, Araujo, Baldé; Casado, Pedri; Yamal, Gavi, Raphinha; Lewandowski. Coach: Flick.
This section provides average statistics and percentages on the main markets for the last 10 matches of both teams
Benfica
FC Barcelona
Under
Over
Under
Over
0.5
0
10
0
10
1.5
1
9
1
9
2.5
3
7
3
7
3.5
5
5
4
6
4.5
8
2
6
4