Barcelona fail to beat Benfica in a goalless match and depend on themselves to get through to the round

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

The debut of Xavi Hernandez in the Champions League has not been all expectations. Barcelona has failed to win against Benfica in a match that at all times the Catalans dominated with a 0-0 result.

The great first half of Barcelona, despite the state of the pitch with the large amount of rain that has fallen in the city. The game began with a dominating Barcelona who barely let Benfica leave their field. Frenkie de Jong, Araújo, Nico, and Gavi were key in the first half for Barcelona’s attack. Despite not having had a great first half, Benficait marked a real goal in a play that would be annulled immediately 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 the goal of Vlachodimos, something that had not been seen in the Catalan fiefdom for a long time.

However, the second part began asleep those of Xavi Hernández. It was difficult for them to start the dangerous attack despite Benfica’s weakness throughout the game. The Catalans dominated the game but could not find a way to cross Vlachodimos’ goal. Ronald Araújo was key throughout the game, even scoring a goal at the level of his authentic game that the referee finally annulled due to the advanced position of the Uruguayan central defender.

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 game 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 fans that have all their hopes placed on Xavi Hernández for the ‘ old Barça ‘ to return.

Barcelona depends on itself

The set of Xavi Hernandez now depends on himself after a goalless draw match against Benfica. Their qualification for the eighth-finals 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.