FC Barcelona vs SL Benfica Tickets

FC Barcelona took their time to win their first European Cup/UEFA Champions League crown, but when they finally did so, they made sure they never had to wait too long to taste that experience again.

They watched on as Real Madrid ruled the roost for the first five years following the formation of the European Cup, the Bernabeu side winning each edition of the competition from 1955 to 1960.

Indeed it was Barcelona’s visitors Benfica who ended that run, doing so by beating the Catalan side in the 1961 final, winning 3-2 in Bern, Switzerland.

25 years later, under English boss Terry Venables, Barcelona returned to the European Cup Final; on this occasion, another defeat followed, this time to Romanian side Steaua Bucharest in the most agonizing of circumstances. The two sides were locked at 0-0 for 120 minutes before the La Liga side contrived to have each of their four penalties saved.

In 1992, at Wembley Stadium, their maiden victory finally came to fruition. A sweetly struck Ronald Koeman free-kick in the 112th minute saw off Sampdoria’s challenge, and Johan Cruyff led Barcelona to a hard-fought and well-deserved triumph.

Two years later, Cruyff’s side were thumped 4-0 by AC Milan in Athens, but a second title did eventually arrive in 2006 when another Dutch coach, this time Frank Rijkaard, saw Barcelona comeback from a goal down to defeat ten-man Arsenal in Paris.

The club’s most dominant era in the UEFA Champions League then came around between 2009 and 2014, when, led by Lionel Messi, Pep Guardiola’s side beat Manchester United in both 2009 and 2011, and Juventus were toppled by Luis Enrique in 2014, to clinch a trio of titles during an all-conquering reign.

Benfica are no stranger to European success though their two European Cup triumphs came way back in back-to-back seasons in 1961 and 1962.

As far as the UEFA Champions League era, the Portuguese giants have steadfastly failed to get past the Quarter-Finals stage, one that they have reached on numerous occasions.

They did so in 1994/95 (knocked out by AC Milan), 2005/06 (eliminated by FC Barcelona), 2011/12 (Chelsea’s turn to defeat Benfica at this stage), 2015/16 (Bayern Munich on this occasion), 2021/22 (Liverpool’s turn) and 2022/23 (Inter Milan edging the Eagles out).

FC Barcelona vs SL Benfica Head-to-Head

Barcelona and Benfica are well-known to each other in terms of European clashes. The first of which, as touched upon earlier, came in the 1961 European Cup Final, which was won by the Portuguese outfit.

In 1991/92, Barcelona and Benfica met in the second group phase of the tournament, with the game at Camp Nou ending in a 2-1 home win and the Estadio da Luz encounter finishing goalless.

2005/06 saw the teams drawn in the Quarter-Finals, with the Portuguese leg again finishing 0-0 before goals from Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o saw Barcelona ease to a 2-0 home success.

The one time in recent history that Benfica did manage to defeat Barcelona came in the group stage of the 2021/22 competition, with Darwin Nunez scoring twice in an impressive 3-0 group stage win.

FC Barcelona vs SL Benfica Connections

A number of players have lined up for both Barcelona and Benfica, including wide defender Nelson Semedo, keeper Robert Enke, Nolito, Simao Sabrosa, Geovanni, and Deco.