Barcelona fails to beat Benfica in a goalless match and depends on itself to advance to the next round - News Block

Barcelona have failed to beat Benfica in Xavi’s Champions League debut, so they will be forced to beat Bayern at the Allianz Arena or wait until Benfica fail to score against Dinamo Kyiv.

Xavi Hernández’s debut in the Champions League has not been as expected. Barcelona has not been able to beat Benfica in a match that the Catalans dominated at all times with a 0-0 result.

Great first part for Barcelona, despite the state of the pitch with the large amount of rain that has fallen in the city. The match began with a dominating Barcelona that barely let Benfica out of their field. Frenkie de Jong, Araújo, Nico and Gavi were key in the first half for Barcelona’s attack. Despite not having made a great first half, Benficait scored a real goal in a move that would be immediately canceled by leaving the ball outside the limits of the field in the center of the corner. The fans cheered with great enthusiasm every time Barcelona approached Vlachodimos’s goal, something that had not been seen in the Catalan fief for a long time.

However, Xavi Hernández’s men began the second half asleep. It was difficult for them to initiate the dangerous attack despite Benfica’s weakness throughout the match. The culés dominated the game but they couldn’t find the way to cross Vlachodimos’ goal. Ronald Araújo was key throughout the game, even scoring a goal at the height of his authentic game that the referee finally annulled due to the advanced position of the Uruguayan center-back.

The ‘Xavi era’ begins

The Terrassa coach made his Barcelona debut last Saturday in the Catalan derby against RCD Espanyol at the Camp Nou. The match was decided with a still controversial penalty from ‘Lele’ Cabrera over Memphis at the beginning of the second half in a match in which Espanyol ended up forgiving in the final minutes.

However, today he has not managed to exceed the expectations of the result in his debut in the Champions League against Benfica at the Camp Nou, before a crowd that has all its hopes placed on Xavi Hernández so that the ‘old Barça’ can return.

Barcelona depends on itself

Xavi Hernández’s team now depends on itself after a goalless draw against Benfica. Their qualification for the round of 16 will depend on beating Bayern at the Allianz Arena, a feat that will be very difficult considering the level that the German team continues to maintain. It would also be useful if Benfica did not score against Dynamo Kyiv.