On Wednesday 5 March, Benfica will take on Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League 1/8 finals. Both teams are leading in their respective championships and are fighting on two fronts. Bookmakers rate the potential of the Portuguese club quite highly.

Benfica is in great shape. In the last eight matches, the Portuguese have seven wins and drew with Monaco - 3:3. The attacking line worries even European top clubs. Earlier, Juventus and Barcelona were convinced of this. The teams played each other in the general stage of the Champions League (4:5). Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis is a kind of discovery of the season: the player scored eight goals in the local league, and in the European Cup he was remembered for his hat-trick against Barcelona.

Angel Di Maria is having a terrific season for 37 years old. The Argentine is not just playing for fun - he is bringing victories. In the championship the footballer has already ten productive actions. In the Champions League, only three, but the Argentine is a key element in creating dangerous attacks.

Benfica's potential makes them a very dangerous opponent for any team in the Champions League. One could complain about the difficult draw - that would have made the chances of a long-range passage even better.

Barcelona manages to successfully stay in three tournaments. Earlier, the Catalans had a crazy meeting against Atletico (4:4). In the King's Cup, the team remained the favourite. In the Spanish championship at all managed to open the road to the title. Strong Real Sociedad at the weekend received four unanswered goals. Barcelona topped the Spanish championship. Real are already three points behind.

Hans-Dieter Flick is also helped by the lack of injuries. The team now has a very solid rotation. Players of the level of Ferran Torres, Gavi, Frenkie de Jong and Fermin Lopez can only come on in the second half. Now only goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and young talent Marc Bernal are on the injury list. The rest are ready to play.

Barcelona have been too good in recent matches. The odds of 1.90 even with an away game looks overpriced. Still Benfica gives free space, earlier lost to the Catalans, conceding five goals. A failure in defence is also a possible option. The difference in class is great. The first match Barcelona played without tournament motivation, but still won. Now we will be as serious as possible. It makes sense to solve everything in the first game to ease the busy calendar. Barcelona's key advantage could be rotation. Benfica don't have such a deep bench. A win for the Catalans in an efficient encounter is in sight.