Champions League March 5: "Benfica" vs "Barcelona", "Bayer" and "Bayern" and other Round of 16 matches
Kyiv • UNN
On March 5, four Champions League Round of 16 matches will take place. PSG will host Liverpool, Benfica will play Barcelona, Feyenoord will meet Inter, and Bayern will play against Bayer.
After yesterday's Champions League matches, an equally exciting spectacle is expected on Wednesday, March 5, in the evening. One of the most appetizing announcements is the match between "PSG" and "Liverpool". It is also expected that "Benfica" and "Barcelona" will compete in Lisbon, and the matches between "Bayern" and "Bayer", as well as "Inter" from Milan's visit to Rotterdam, where a match with the local "Feyenoord" is to take place, could be no less exciting.
UNN reports with reference to UEFA, ESPN and Kicker.
"PSG" - "Liverpool"
PSG is hosting "Liverpool" at the "Parc des Princes". In this draw, Liverpool has suffered only one defeat, winning the other seven matches. PSG is in euphoria after defeating "Manchester City" 4-2 at the Parc des Princes on January 22. It should be noted that PSG also completely outplayed "Brest" in the 1/16 Champions League match. Now the goal is to defeat "Liverpool".
Currently, the English club is the undisputed leader of the Premier League. In addition, "Liverpool" leads the standings of 36 teams in the first round of the new Champions League format.
Before the match, it became known that "Liverpool's" infirmary is empty, the attack is "firing on all cylinders", and the defense is reliable with Arne Slot, who is a constant in the "Reds'" big games. PSG should beware of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ryan Gravenberch, and Dominik Szoboszlai.
However, PSG has a significant advantage before the game - there are currently no key players among the injured Parisian team.
PSG can win this match. In football, the main thing is the movement of the ball, and I think we are better at that.
"Benfica" - "Barcelona"
A month and a half ago, there was a game between "Benfica" and "Barcelona", in which the "Blaugranes" (the name of "Barça" in Catalan - ed.) won 5-4. Obviously, many lessons can be learned from the past exciting match for this Wednesday's clash.
"Barça" approaches the decisive moment with more arguments than in 2024. The Catalans have taken first place in the Spanish La Liga standings - the team has a streak of six consecutive victories.
Also, let us remind you, in the general stage of the Champions League, "Barcelona" finished second after "Liverpool". "Barcelona" has no new injuries, and the team will be at full strength for the new Champions League match.
Bruno Lage, the coach of "Benfica", after last year's 4-5 defeat, urged the players to learn from their mistakes and "learn a lesson from this result", specifically "from the last minutes of the game".
For "Benfica", where Ukrainian Anatoliy Trubin continues his performance, the main loss is attacking midfielder Ángel Di María. The legend of the Argentine national team did not train with the team on Tuesday morning and is still recovering from a muscle injury. The club expects him to be 100% ready for the second leg of the 1/8 finals.
"Feyenoord" - "Inter"
For "Feyenoord", this will be the second consecutive Italian opponent in the Champions League. In the previous round, the Dutch club defeated "Inter's" compatriots, the football club "Milan", scoring a goal in each of the two matches. Interestingly, "Feyenoord" defeated "Milan" under the interim coach Pascal Bosschaart, and on February 23, the team was led by Robin van Persie, who had already worked in the coaching staff in 2020-2024.
Currently, the Rotterdam team has a huge list of those who will be absent from the match against "Internazionale" on Wednesday evening.
But the head coach of the Italians, Simone Inzaghi, is also forced to rack his brains over how to build the squad, given the injured players.
Especially in the left-back position, as Federico Dimarco suffered a muscle injury. Also absent are: Nikola Zalewski, Carlos Augusto, and Matteo Darmian cannot be used. In Inter's previous game, Denzel Dumfries finished the match at left-back.
"Bayern" - "Bayer"
On Wednesday, March 5, Munich's "Bayern" will host "Bayer" at their home "Allianz Arena". The match will start at 21:00.
What's interesting
"Bayern" will play against the reigning German champion. It should be noted that "Bayer 04" broke the long-standing total dominance of "Bayern" from Munich, which won the Bundesliga title for 11 consecutive years.
The Munich and Leverkusen teams have already met three times at the national level this season. In the Bundesliga, both teams drew (1:1, 0:0).
"Bayern" barely made it to the 1/8 finals, overcoming "Celtic" with great difficulty in the play-off matches. In the final table of the general stage of the Champions League, "Bayer" took 6th place. And "Bayern" finished in 12th place.
Over the weekend, Michael Olise (midfielder of the German club "Bayern" and the French national team) and his teammates from the "Bayern" team won 3-1 against "Stuttgart". And "Bayer" under Xabi Alonso, won 4-1 against Frankfurt's "Eintracht" over the weekend. It should be noted that the Leverkusen team has lost only one of their last 21 games in all competitions.