The Barça team failed to beat Benfica (0-0) on the last match day, coming to fear a loss in injury time after Haris Seferovic’s resounding chance was practically left behind. With this result, they reach the last match with two points of margin compared to the Lisbon, serving them the following combinations to access the round of 16:
A victory in the fiefdom of Bayern München would guarantee access to the next phase, since the Catalans depend on themselves and should not worry about the other result of the day. The challenge is enormous considering that the Bavarians have won all the games in this edition, but it is difficult to imagine that they will come out with the headlines on the last day having the mathematical leadership of Group E.
Benfica has the goal average in the direct confrontation with FC Barcelona, given that they won (3-0) in Lisbon and drew (0-0) in Barcelona last night. In this way, a tie on points would benefit the Portuguese and send the Catalans to the Europa League, a competition they have not played since the 2003-04 season when it was still the UEFA Cup. That is why, if they do not beat the Bavarians, they should wait to see what happens at the Estádio Da Lúz, where Dynamo Kyiv will attend being mathematically eliminated.
Those of Xavi Hernández are aware that those of Julian Nagelsmann are one of the most fearsome rivals in the world today. Since there is a group stage before the round of 16 with knockouts, a format adopted in the 2003-04 academic year, 18 editions have left 16 qualified for that round, for a total of 288.
Of these 288, only 10 (3.47%) have managed to reach the round of 16 with three defeats in the group stage, which are those that the Barça team would add in case of losing at the Allianz Arena. They can boast of it Werder Bremen (2005-06), Celtic Glasgow (2006-07 and 2007-08), Olympiacos (2009-10), Galatasaray (2013-14), Basel (2014-15), Arsenal (2015-16) ), Liverpool and AS Roma (2018-19) and Atalanta Bergamo (2019-20).
To be among this select club, FC Barcelona would need the Lisboners to be unable to beat the Ukrainians, something that already happened in Eastern Europe (0-0) to start the group stage.
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