SL Benfica v FC Barcelona MATCH PRESS KIT A Luz, Lisbon Tuesday, 28 March 2006 - 20:45 CET Quarter-finals - Matchday 9 When FC Barcelona won the European Champion Clubs© Cup for the first and only time it was Ronald Koeman©s goal that made it possible. Now the illustrious former defender is in charge of SL Benfica, the next opponents to stand in the way of a second European Cup success for the Catalan side. Historic meeting · The clubs met for the first time in the 1960/61 European Cup final which ended Real Madrid CF©s run of five successive triumphs since the competition began. Benfica returned home from Berne with the trophy after a 3-2 win - they retained it the following year, beating Madrid 5-3 in Amsterdam - and it was they who earlier this month curtailed the reign of the most recent champions, Liverpool FC, in the first knockout round. Story so far · Their 2-0 victory at Anfield on Matchday 8 was secured with goals from Simão and Fabrizio Miccoli and added to the 1-0 home win that came courtesy of Luisão©s late header. · In the quarter-finals, the Portuguese title-holders stage the first game again with the return at Camp Nou on 5 April. Barcelona are seen by many as the most likely to be crowned champions in Paris on 17 May but Benfica will be encouraged by their ability to score goals against a Liverpool team who had previously gone five matches in the competition without conceding. Last meeting · The only other occasion the two sides faced up saw Barça emerge triumphant ± and it proved a happy omen with Koeman going on to win Europe©s most prestigious club prize with a 1-0 victory at Wembley against UC Sampdoria. In the group stage that immediately preceded the final of the 1991/92 tournament, Barcelona earned a 0-0 draw in Portugal before a 2-1 home success. Barça on top · Barcelona©s confidence will stem from the fact that in home-and-away format against Portuguese opposition they have won seven of their eight ties, reeling off a succession of victories since their first two-legged tie, in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup first round against FC Porto, ended in defeat. · Yet Barça©s record in Portugal is not as impressive, losing four and drawing two of their first six outings. However, they have prevailed on their last two trips across the border, most recently a 2-0 success at Porto in the 1999/00 European Cup second group stage. Just one Spanish reverse · At home to Spanish visitors, Benfica have lost only once in six fixtures and that came this season, a 1-0 reverse at the hands of Villarreal CF, as they ended an absence of seven years with their third appearance in the UEFA Champions League. · Their defeat by Villarreal at the Estádio da Luz on Matchday 4 was their first at home, excluding qualifying, in their entire UEFA Champions League history. Their record in ten other home games in the competition proper shows eight wins and two draws. Rare away win · The victory at Anfield was Benfica©s first away from home in the UEFA Champions League. In 13 previous matches on the road, including qualifying rounds, they had drawn six and lost seven. Last Updated 27.3.2006 12:12:29CET uefa.com 1 SL Benfica v FC Barcelona MATCH PRESS KIT · Before the second leg Benfica, who are aiming for their first UEFA Champions League semi-final appearance, will be reminded they do not have a particularly impressive record in Spain, having played there on six occasions and won just once. · That sole triumph was a 2-1 defeat of Real Betis Balompié in the 1982/83 UEFA Cup first round. In the third round of the same tournament in the 1999/00 campaign, Benfica suffered their heaviest loss in UEFA competition, succumbing 7-0 at RC Celta de Vigo. Eight wins in a row · Meanwhile, Barcelona have shown imperious form at home against Portuguese opposition. After losing their first game against guests from their neighbouring country in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup, 1-0 to Porto, Barça have won the next eight, keeping clean sheets in five of them. Route to quarter-finals · Frank Rijkaard©s side, who in their tenth UEFA Champions League campaign are attempting to reach the semi-finals for the fourth time, knocked out another favoured team, Chelsea FC, in the last stage. A 2-1 victory in London, with Samuel Eto©o©s late header adding to an own goal, gave the Spanish champions a good platform and a 1-1 draw at home was enough to see them through. Ronaldinho©s goal was his sixth in the competition. Awayday form · Following a run of three successive away defeats in last season©s competition, Barcelona have remained unbeaten on their travels with three wins and a draw. The only goal conceded in those four outings was an own goal. · Following their home loss to Juventus in the quarter-final second leg in 2002/03 they have been unbeaten in eight matches, winning six and drawing two. Match facts · Luisão is the only Benfica player to have played every minute of the club©s UEFA Champions League campaign this season. If he plays the entire game on Matchday 9, he will be the only player who can claim that honour among the eight quarter-finalists. · Nuno Gomes had also shared that honour until his substitution in the 77th minute of the second leg against Liverpool FC on Matchday 8. · Nuno Gomes is four matches away from his 50th appearance in UEFA club competition but will not add to that tally in the first leg against Barcelona because he is suspended. · Club captain Simão is five adrift of his own half-century, meaning Benfica would have to reach the final and he would have to feature in every game to reach the milestone this season. · Beto is one yellow card away from a suspension, having been booked on two other occasions in the competition. · Luisão made his 100th official appearance for Benfica since arriving in the 2003/04 season in their 1-0 win against SC Braga on Saturday. The breakdown is Portuguese Liga (69), Portuguese Cup (8); Portuguese Super Cup (2), UEFA (21). · Nuno Gomes scored his 15th goal of the season in the Portuguese Liga against Braga, to leave him top of the scorers© chart. However, it was the forward©s first goal since the 4-0 win against FC Penafiel on 12 February. · The second-minute strike by Nuno Gomes was only the fifth goal he has scored in the first half of a match this season. The other ten strikes have all come in the second half. Last Updated 27.3.2006 12:12:29CET uefa.com 2 SL Benfica v FC Barcelona MATCH PRESS KIT · Nuno Gomes was also making his 200th league appearance for Benfica. He is on 98 goals in that period. · The weekend match was the 50th time Benfica have played host to Braga, with 40 wins, nine draws and only one defeat. · Manuel Fernandes will sit out the next fixture at CF Os Belenenses on 1 April after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season during the first half against Braga. · On-loan forward Fabrizio Miccoli was absent against Braga and several injuries this season have left him with just eleven league appearances. · Since their victory at Liverpool, Benfica have found the net just twice in the following four games. Two 1-0 wins in the Liga including Saturday©s success and the victory at Rio Ave FC on 19 March followed a goalless draw at A. Naval 1ë Maio. There was also a 1-0 defeat by Vitória SC in the Portuguese Cup. · Andrei Kariaka turns 28 on 1 April. · Carles Puyol is the only Barcelona player to have played every minute of their UEFA Champions League campaign to date. However, he will be suspended for the trip to Benfica. · Giovanni van Bronckhorst is the only other Barça player to have featured in all eight matches, having been denied his perfect record by his substitution in the 69th minute on Matchday 7. · Deco needs just one more game for his half-century in the UEFA Champions League, having made his 75th appearance in UEFA club competition last time out. · Xavi Hernández requires one more appearance to make it 75 in UEFA club competition. · Henrik Larsson needs four more goals to hit the 50-mark in UEFA club competition. · Maxi López celebrates his 22nd birthday on 3 April. · Ronaldinho is second in the race to be the UEFA Champions League top scorer this season with six, two fewer than leader Andriy Shevchenko. Samuel Eto©o is not far behind with four. · Ronaldinho and Eto©o are also joint second in the list of the most creative players, having each made three goals for team-mates. Johan Micoud and Steven Pienaar, both no longer in the competition, have provided four assists. · Eto©o has had 15 shots on target in this season©s competition, four fewer than Shevchenko and two more than Ronaldinho. · Deco is the second most fouled player (31) in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League. Only José Antonio Reyes (33) has suffered more. · Rafael Márquez, Oleguer Presas and Mark van Bommel are all one yellow card away from a suspension. · In Saturday©s 0-0 draw at Málaga CF, Sylvinho played his 50th official match for Barcelona.