'Easy' route impossible in Champions League: Barca's Flick / Photo: © AFP
'Easy' route impossible in Champions League: Barca's Flick
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick dismissed claims his team have an "easy" path to the Champions League final, ahead of their last 16 clash against Benfica.
The five-time winners visit Lisbon on Wednesday in the first leg, and if they progress from the tie will face either Borussia Dortmund or Lille in the quarter-finals.
Record 15-time winners Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are in the other half of the draw and Barcelona could only meet them in a potential final.
Barca have not won the competition since 2015 but finished second in the group stage and are among the favourites to lift the trophy.
"I think in this phase there's no easy game, every team deserves to be here at this stage, and I think Benfica too," Flick told reporters Tuesday.
"Benfica is a fantastic team, tomorrow we play in a great stadium and it's really a special atmosphere there.
"Their (fans) push the team on a lot, supporting them and it will be really tough tomorrow, hard work for us."
Flick would not be drawn on who the tournament favourites are and which side would pose the most threat to Barca's hopes.
"Always the next match, Benfica is for us the next difficult opponent," continued the German coach.
"It's not good to (talk about) these things, we focus on the next match and the next match, and that's a good way to do this.
"It always starts at 0-0 and you have to give everything... the other teams are doing really well and they always want to win against us."
Barcelona beat Benfica 5-4 in Lisbon in a thrilling group stage comeback.
Defender Pau Cubarsi said his team had to focus more to stop the Portuguese side, for whom Vangelis Pavlidis scored a 30-minute hat-trick.
"It was complicated... we gave up a lot of chances, we have to try not to concede goals," said the 18-year-old, who made his Barcelona debut in January 2024 and has rapidly become a key figure.
"We have to know how to manage games... this is a two-legged tie and we have to give everything from the start," continued Cubarsi.
"Each year Barca should be competing for everything, for me we are the best club in the world.
"This year people say we have the best pathway in the tournament, but I don't see it like that."
Earlier, Benfica coach Bruno Lage confirmed midfielders Angel Di Maria and Florentino Luis were hurt and could not feature against Barca.
"They will not be available for the game, I don't know at the moment when they will be able to play," said the coach.
C.Stevenson--TNT
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