FC Barcelona are set to return to the UEFA Champions League action after a significant break tonight as they face SL Benfica in the first leg of the Round of 16 clash. This first leg is scheduled to be played in Lisbon, where the team is already stationed.
There is no doubt that Hansi Flick will field his strongest line-up for this game, especially after having rested several of his key players in the last game.
However, keeping in view the Blaugranes’ UCL campaign up to now, Mundo Deportivo notes that there are four players in the Catalan side’s squad that have started in all eight games of this UCL campaign, i.e., Jules Kounde, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, and Pedri, and all of these are expected to take to the field tonight as well.
These four players are also the ones who have played the most minutes in this UCL campaign in the Barcelona squad, with Kounde playing 704 minutes, Raphinha playing 655, Robert Lewandowski playing 638, and Pedri playing 638.
Marc Casado and Pau Cubarsi are the other two players who have played all of these eight games of the League Phase, but both of them appeared only as substitutes in the last game against Atalanta.
These players are also among the leaders in most aspects for the Blaugrana team. Lewandowski is the leading goalscorer with 9 goals, ahead of Raphinha, who has 8 goals. Lamine Yamal (2), Iñigo Martínez (2), Ferran Torres (2), Fermín López (1), Dani Olmo (1), Eric Garcia (1) and Ronald Araujo (1) have also scored in the competition this season.
The Brazilian winger is leading the assists chart for the Catalans with his 5 assists. Fermin Lopez and Kounde both have 3 assists to their names, while Pedri (2), Casadó (2), Lamine Yamal (2), Balde (2), Iñigo Martínez (1), Olmo (1), Gerard Martín (1) and Ferran Torres (1) have also been among the creators.
Raphinha also is the fastest player with a top speed of 34.7 km/h, which is higher than Gerard Martin’s 34 km/h.
Casado stands at the top in respect to recoveries (39) and tackles (19), and his completed passes are only less than those of Pau Cubarsi, as the centre-back has completed 543 passes up to now. Lewandowski has won the most fouls, 15, 1 higher than Yamal’s 14.
