Barcelona Beat Benfica
Hansi Flick’s second half substitutions got Barcelona a late comeback win from 2-1 down.
(The Post News)- Barcelona defeated Benfica 5–4 in a thrilling match on Tuesday, with Raphinha scoring a thrilling goal in stoppage time to essentially guarantee direct progress to the Champions League round of 16. With less than fifteen minutes left, Benfica had a 4-2 lead, but Barcelona pulled off a spectacular comeback to trail leaders Liverpool by three points. Due in part to two crucial mistakes made by Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, Vangelis Pavlidis scored a hat-trick for the home team in the first half. But Eric Garcia’s header, a brace for Raphinha, and a double from Robert Lewandowski from the penalty spot gave Barcelona a thrilling late victory in Lisbon.
In the second minute, Benfica took the lead when Pavlidis got past Pau Cubarsi and scored from a low cross by Alvaro Carreras. After Benfica defender Tomas Araujo pulled down Alejandro Balde, Barcelona quickly reacted with a penalty kick from Lewandowski. Szczesny ran out of his goal to attempt and cut out a through-ball but crashed into Balde, giving the home team a fortunate lead again. Pavlidis, a Greece international, gathered the loose ball with joy and rolled his second into the empty net. Barcelona quickly fell further behind after luring Szczesny out of retirement in October to replace Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who was injured. After another Szczesny error, Pavlidis scored a penalty to complete his half-hour hat-trick, and the goalie flew in to try to stop Kerem Akturkoglu and defeat Kerem Akturkoglu while disposing of him.
Barcelona surged forward before halftime, but both Raphinha and Lamine Yamal squandered decent chances. Lewandowski was unable to turn home Pedri’s risky ball across the face of goal, and Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin stopped Jules Kounde from scoring. Trubin’s clearing hit Raphinha’s head on the edge of the area and sent it flying back into the net, giving Barcelona a strange comeback.
But Benfica quickly scored again when Ronald Araujo attempted to cut out a cross and nudged past Szczesny into his own net. After Nicolas Otamendi took down Yamal, Barcelona continued to press, and Lewandowski scored another penalty. Garcia, a replacement, headed home from Pedri’s inviting cross to tie the score for the Catalan powerhouses, who last won the Champions League in 2015. Prior to Raphinha’s thrilling winner, Szczesny stopped a low shot from former Real Madrid player Angel Di Maria. Barcelona launched a swift breakaway after Benfica called for a penalty, and the Brazilian winger scored to cap off an exciting match.
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