Portuguese coach Bruno Lage, the head of Benfica, confirmed that his team is ready to face Barcelona in the first leg of the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, emphasizing the need to exploit the spaces that the Catalan team will grant them to achieve a positive result.

In his remarks during the press conference before the match, Lage said: "I cannot predict the number of goals that will be scored, but I can predict a wonderful match, as both teams have great attacking strength."

He added: "It will be a tough match, and we will play to win. The result of tomorrow's match is important, but the real decision will be in the return leg. We are facing a great team that scores a lot of goals, but we are also looking at the positive things we have shown against them."

Lage referred to the previous encounter between the two teams in the group stage, stating: "We faced Barcelona in the group stage, and it was an exciting match that ended with a score of 5-4 in their favor, which has never happened before in the history of the Champions League. We know their strengths well, but we will also focus on our strengths."

The Portuguese coach confirmed that his team will try to exploit Barcelona's weaknesses, saying: "The most important thing is that we work as a single entity, regardless of the names that will participate in the match. We will try to exploit the spaces that the opponent gives us, as Barcelona often grants their opponents those opportunities, and that should be the key for us."

Regarding the favorite to qualify between the two teams, Lage stressed the importance of believing in his team's chances, saying: "The question of who is the favorite is not important to us; what matters is that we believe in our ability to qualify and give our best on the pitch."

In bad news for the Portuguese team's fans, Bruno Lage officially announced the absence of star Ángel Di María from the match due to injury, explaining: "Di María has not fully recovered and was unable to participate in the main training session before the match, so he will not be available to us tomorrow."