"It will be a tough tie"

FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta assured on Monday that the Champions League round of 16 clash against Portuguese side Benfica, which kicks off on Wednesday with the first leg in Lisbon, “will be a tough tie”.
“We're going to Lisbon and we'll see, it will be a tough tie,” said the president in statements to the media after the closing of the first day of the Sports Tomorrow Congress, a congress on technological innovation in sport promoted by the Barça Innovation Hub (BIHUB) as part of the Mobile World Congress.
Laporta, who watched Barca's 4-0 win over Real Sociedad in La Liga EA Sports last Sunday, said that the team “will do everything possible” to win the tie against Benfica, second in the Portuguese league behind Sporting Lisbon.
Likewise, during his previous speech, the FC Barcelona president stressed that the club intends to “build a legacy that goes beyond football and inspires new generations to dream big”.
Laporta reviewed the club's origins and claimed its identity, built on values such as “democracy, inclusion and commitment to a style of football that combines beauty and attacking play.” “These principles are the basis of what we do, they guide us in success and adversity, they continue to inspire us,” he stressed.
On the other hand, the FC Barcelona president analysed that “the world of football is going through a paradigm shift” because technological advances “redefine the way we train, compete and connect with fans”.