Big door or infirmary for Barça

Xavi Hernández has his first grand final as a Barcelona coach this Tuesday. The one from Tarrasa returned to change the dynamics of the team and the duel against Benfica is one that could be a turning point in the season. A victory certifies the pass of the Catalans to the knockout stages of the Champions League, while a defeat or even a draw would put the Catalans in a very compromised situation for the last day. Large door or infirmary.

There are games that mark the sporting life of a coach, meetings that involve raising a coach or sinking him to the bottom. One of those is that of Barça this Tuesday. After the defeats against Bayern Munich (0-3) and Benfica (3-0), the Catalans won their commitments against Dinamo Kiev and have reached the fifth match day depending on themselves. Winning the Portuguese team means being in the round of 16 and an important economic injection for the club and morale for some players who were out of the maximum continental competition at the first change.

Barça faces a team that already in the first leg was a real ordeal for the team led by Ronald Koeman at that time. Despite this, Xavi was optimistic in the press conference prior to the crash. I envision a victory tomorrow. Why should I think otherwise? I’m positive and it seems like an opportunity to be in the second round. The objective is to win, but we understand that it is the fruit of the game. Anything that is winning will be welcome, but how things are done, too, “he said.

To achieve that goal, Xavi will have to face once again the plague of casualties that has plagued the team throughout the season. In the attack zone he will not be able to count on Martin Braithwaite, Sergio Agüero and Ansu Fati. Neither will Pedri and Sergi Roberto be from the game due to injury, as well as Ilias Akhomach, who carries a UEFA Youth League sanction, and Ez Abde, who is not registered in the competition.

Doubts above

All these absences will once again condition Xavi, who only counts as offensive references with Memphis Depay, Luuk de Jong, Yusuf Demir and Dembélé. Thus, the starting eleven aims to be very similar to the one that was imposed on Espanyol on Sunday.

The game will not be easy for Barça. Benfica swept the Catalans in the first leg and this season they have already shown in the Portuguese league that they have arguments for this to be their year, that of the reconquest. Jorge Jesús’ team has won nine of the eleven games they have played in the domestic competition and is in a fierce fight with Porto and Sporting to reach first place.

Last weekend they beat Paços de Ferreira 4-1 in the Portuguese Cup and arrived with morale through the roof. «If we tie, we would have to wait for Bayern-Barça. I think a draw would be more negative for Barça. But we are going to play to win », declared his coach.

For the appointment, Jorge Jesús will once again bet on the 3-4-3 system with two lanes that gave him such a good result in the first leg, but he will do so with an eleven in which he will not be able to count on Lucas Veríssimo, who suffered a ligament tear two weeks ago, Rodrigo Pinho, Diogo Gonçalves and Radonjic. The one who will be at the Camp Nou is Haris Seferovic, already recovered from the muscular problems that have accompanied him since the start of the season, but who will have to wait for his opportunity from the bench.