MADRID, 30 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona will visit the Portuguese Benfica this Wednesday (9:00 p.m.), a rival against whom it will close the group stage of the Women's Champions League 2023-2024 in a match with little at stake since both teams already have their ticket for the round of the quarterfinals.
The Blaugrana team has fulfilled its favoritism in this Group A, where it has signed a plethora of victories to seal without excessive problems, beyond those posed to them, especially by the German Eintracht Frankfurt in the two games, and arrives strongly to the decisive phase of the maximum continental competition where he is the rival to beat not only because of his status as current champion.
At the moment, the numbers of the team coached by Jonatan Giráldez are being notable, with 23 goals scored, the most together with the French Olympique Lyon, and only one against, the least. And although there is not 'too much' at stake, one more victory would make Barça the only one in this round to have achieved full victory.
The Blaugrana team continues to grow as the season progresses and already has its first objectives achieved, with the conquest of the Spanish Super Cup and this passage to the quarterfinals as the first to have a somewhat more affordable crossing. At the moment, he has already surpassed a hundred goals in this campaign, proof of his current offensive moment that Benfica will try to stop.
The Lisbon team has taken a step forward in competitiveness and has managed to get into the quarterfinals before hosting the current champion, so the match will be a party in which it will try to make the clash as long as possible for its rival, taking advantage of the fact that It does not have excessive pressure.
“Benfica has to focus on its evolutionary process and always try to do better than other years, even better against Barcelona than last year. We achieved it there and now we hope to do it at home, aware that we are facing the best team in the world and with the best players. We are aware that Portuguese football is still light years away from Barcelona,” admitted Filipa Patao, Benfiquista coach who will not be able to count on Andreia Norton, who recently underwent appendicitis surgery.
The Portuguese team, with the presence of a former Barcelona player like Andrea Sánchez Falcón, already lost at the Johan Cruyff by a resounding 6-0 and last year, in the last Blaugrana visit, they could not put up much resistance either and lost by a clear 2- 6. So far, they have been able to take advantage of their defensive solidity at home, with two key victories against Eintracht and Rosengard by 1-0.
However, Benfica knows that Barça's level is much higher and that they could also bet on a strong eleven after rotating a lot in the league victory against Betis where Aitana Bonmatí, Mariona Caldentey, Ona Batlle, Salma Paralluelo or Keira did not start. Walsh, in addition to a Lucy Bronze who is the novelty in a call in which the central Irene Paredes could not enter due to a respiratory virus.