Benfica coach hints who will start as his left-back against Barcelona with his preferred starter suspended | OneFootball

FC Barcelona are set to face a pivotal tie in their UEFA Champions League campaign as they take on Benfica in the second leg of the Round of 16. The Catalans enter this match with a one-goal advantage, as Raphinha scored the lone goal in the first leg for his side.

Hansi Flick will be looking to field his strongest line-up for this game, but he will not be able to field one of his fixed starters this season, i.e., Pau Cubarsi, who was shown a red card in the first leg and is thus suspended for the game on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Bruno Lage, the Benfica coach, will also be unable to field one of his key players, Alvaro Carreras, due to suspension.

However, as Mundo Deportivo has reported, the Portuguese coach had no doubts in his mind on who his replacement would be, as he explained his plans in a press conference after guiding his side to a 3-0 win against Nacional de Madeira.

Lage hinted that 22-year-old left-back Samuel Dahl will start in place of Carreras, as he explained why the latter was subbed off early in the league game:

“We have a lot of players to play. And one of the changes we made in the second half was Samuel Dahl because he has really been doing a great job, and he will have to play.”

“The most important thing is what we did in these four matches—with the offensive volume and the chances we created, we have to believe that we are going to Barcelona to win the match, to create our chances, to score our goals, and to advance to the next knockout stage.”

Dahl is naturally a left-back but has been playing as a midfielder since his arrival at Benfica last winter, including in the first leg against Barcelona as he was subbed in during the second half. He also played in the middle of the pitch in the game against Nacional and marked his appearance with an assist for the opening goal of the game.

But there is no doubt that Carreras’ absence will be a big blow for Benfica, and the Blaugranes will look to take full advantage of this situation through a forward as deadly as Lamine Yamal.