Barcelona vs. Benfica live score: UEFA Champions League Round of 16 2nd leg result, updates, stats

Barcelona host Benfica on Tuesday in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie.

The Catalans battled to a 1-0 victory in the first game in Lisbon last week, Raphinha's goal giving them a narrow aggregate advantage despite Pau Cubarsi's first-half red card.

Wojciech Szczesny made some fine saves to preserve that scoreline, and Benfica will certainly consider themselves capable of causing a threat to Hansi Flick’s side, having scored four against them during their league-phase game back in January.

The winner of this tie will progress to the quarterfinals, where they will face either Borussia Dortmund or Lille.

The Sporting News is following the Barcelona vs. Benfica match live, providing score updates and commentary

Latest live updates | Team news and lineups | Where to watch where you are

Barcelona vs. Benfica score

Venue: Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, Barcelona (Spain)
Referee: Francois Letexier (FRA)

Starting lineups:

Barcelona (4-2-3-1, right to left): 25. Wojciech Szczesny (GK) — 23. Jules Kounde, 4. Ronald Araujo, 5. Inigo Martinez, 3. Alejandro Balde — 21. Frenkie de Jong, 8. Pedri — 19. Lamine Yamal, 20. Dani Olmo, 11. Raphinha — 9. Robert Lewandowski

Benfica (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Anatoliy Trubin (GK) — 44. Tomas Araujo, 4. Antonio Silva, 30. Nicolas Otamendi, 26. Samuel Dahl — 8. Fredrik Aursnes, 61. Florentino, 10. Orkun Kokcu — 17. Kerem Akturkoglu, 14. Vangelis Pavlidis, 21. Andreas Schjelderup

Barcelona vs. Benfica live updates, highlights, and commentary

1 hour 10 mins before kickoff: The team news is in! Dani Olmo gets a start for the home side, which seems like fair compensation after he was taken off in the first half last week following Cubarsi’s red card. As expected, Ronald Araujo replaces the suspended centre-back.

Benfica make two changes from the first leg: Samuel Dahl comes in for Alvaro Carreras, who is banned, while midfielder Florentino makes a surprising but welcome return from injury. He starts instead of Leandro Barreiro.

1 hour 35 mins before kickoff: Barca are unbeaten in their past 10 games against Benfica in European competition, and they have never lost to them on home turf. In fact, you have to go back 52 years for the last time any Portuguese side beat Barca away from home (that was Porto in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup).

2 hours before kickoff: Barca’s players and staff have been affected in recent days by the passing of team doctor Carles Minarro Garcia. Today’s game has taken on a more poignant meaning for those at the club, beyond the simple aim of qualifying for the quarterfinals.

Barcelona vs. Benfica kick off time

The match kicks off in Barcelona, Spain at 6:45 p.m. local time.

Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:

Barcelona vs. Benfica lineups, team news

Pau Cubarsi is suspended for this game after his red card in Lisbon, so Ronald Araujo comes in to partner Inigo Martinez at the heart of the defence.

Barca’s injury picture is unchanged given they did not play last weekend. Andreas Christensen, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Marc Bernal are absent, but Flick otherwise has a strong squad at his disposal. He has chosen to start Dani Olmo at No. 10, perhaps to make up for the fact that the Spain international was hauled off in the first half last week following Cubarsi’s dismissal.

Wojciech Szczesny‘s superb performance in the first leg underlined why he is Flick’s first choice during Ter Stegen’s absence, and he will start in goal once more.

Barcelona starting lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Szczesny (GK) — Kounde, R. Araujo, Martinez, Balde — De Jong, Pedri — Lamine Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha — Lewandowski

Barcelona subs: Pena, Kochen, Gavi, Torres, Fati, Torre, Lopez, Casado, Victor, Garcia, Fort, Martin

Benfica are without Alvaro Carreras, the left-back having earned a one-game suspension due to a yellow card in the first leg. Samuel Dahl is his replacement.

Head coach Bruno Lage rested a few key players for the weekend win over Nacional. Goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin was an unused substitute, while Vangelis Pavlidis, Kerem Akturkoglu, Leandro Barreiro and Andreas Schjelderup were all restricted to 25 minutes or less in the second half of the 3-0 victory. All start this game, with the exception of Barreiro, who makes way for the returning Florentino.

Benfica starting lineup (4-3-3, right to left): Trubin (GK) — T. Araujo, A. Silva, Otamendi, Dahl — Aursnes, Florentino, Kokcu — Akturkoglu, Pavlidis, Schjelderup

Benfica subs: Soares, Amdouni, Cabral, Barreiro, Belotti, Prestianni, Nuno Felix, Oliveira, Santos, Bajrami, Joao Rego, Sanches

Barcelona vs. Benfica live stream, TV channel

Here is how to watch the match in some of the world’s major regions: