Barcelona will face off against Benfica at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica on Wednesday night as they try to pick up their first points of this UEFA Champions League campaign. The Catalans managed to secure an impressive 3-0 victory over Levante last weekend which will give them a lot of confidence ahead of this midweek encounter in Portugal.
Ronald Koeman will probably opt for a 4-3-3 formation and is expected to make some tweaks to his first team for this match. Both Frenkie de Jong and Pedri might be in line to get the nod to start as part of Barca’s midfield later this week.
4-3-3 Barcelona Predicted Lineup To Face Benfica
Defence
Marc-André ter Stegen will operate in between the sticks for the Catalans after he managed to earn a clean sheet in his last appearance. Ronald Araujo is expected to get a chance to play alongside Gerard Pique at the heart of Koeman’s defence as they look to keep the Benfica attackers frustrated throughout the game.
Oscar Mingueza put in a superb performance at right-back last weekend, so Koeman might once again choose to play him in a makeshift role this Wednesday night. Sergiño Dest will probably get a chance to impress as a makeshift left-back.
Jordi Alba, Alejandro Balde and Sergi Roberto are all major doubts for this game but Eric Garcia will be available for selection on the bench as he provides cover for the centre-half positions.
Midfield
The Barca midfield could be comprised of Pedri, Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong as they focus on dominating the ball at the centre of the park and engineer a few decent openings for their teammates up top.
Riqui Puig will have to be content with a spot on Koeman’s bench but might come to make an impact in the second half if needed.
Attack
Philippe Coutinho will carry a lot of the creative workload for the Catalan club down the left flank. On the other side, Memphis Depay will look to threaten the Benfica goal from the right-wing position. Luuk de Jong could get another chance to impress as Koeman’s primary centre-forward.
Ansu Fati will be named on the bench as he waits for his chance to influence the game in the final quarter of the game if Barca are in need of a goal by then.
