Barcelona staged a remarkable and controversial late comeback to beat Benfica 5-4 in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
A 96th-minute effort from Raphinha won the contest for the Catalans, as Benfica were furious as they believed they should have been awarded a penalty in the dying moments before the Brazilian came on to score the decisive goal.
The opening stages epitomized the duality of the Spanish heavyweights, with poor defending allowing Vangelis Pavlidis to break the deadlock before Robert Lewandowski's composed spot-kick secured the equaliser.
But there was nothing nuanced about Wojciech Szczesny's performance at the Estadio da Luz as the Polish goalkeeper endured a dismal opening half hour. A catastrophic collision with Barcelona Left-back Alejandro Balde gifted Pavlidis his second of the game, before Szczesny gifted Benfica the penalty from which the Greek striker secured his hat-trick.
Barcelona reduced the deficit after the hour mark with an unconventional effort, Raphinha deflecting Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin's errant pass past the Ukrainian from outside the penalty area.
Barcelona's hopes of a comeback appeared short-lived as Benfica restored their two-goal lead, with Ronald Araujo hitting the net from Andreas Schjelderup's near-post cross after another individual mistake proved costly for the visitors.
But Benfica were on hand to give Barcelona another route back into proceedings as Alvaro Carreras conceded the home side's second penalty of the evening. Lewandowskiwho had converted from the spot in the first half, made no mistake in securing the post after sending Trubin the wrong way.
Barcelona eventually secured a dramatic equalizer as they piled the pressure on their hosts, Eric Garcia slotting home in the 86th minute to save them blushes, but there was still time for more drama in Portugal.
Leandro Barreiro was pushed down in the penalty area in stoppage time before Raphinha went up the other end of the field to fire Barcelona ahead for the first time in the game, but referee Danny Makkelie and VAR were unaffected as the visitors secured a controversial game and controversial. surprising victory.
|
Player |
ASSESSMENT |
|---|---|
|
GC: Anatoly Trubin |
3.6/10 |
|
RB: Tomas Araujo |
5.6/10 |
|
CB: Anthony Silva |
5.4/10 |
|
CB: Nicolas Otamendi |
6.2/10 |
|
LB: Alvaro Carreras |
7.0/10 |
|
CM: Fredrik Aursnes |
6.6/10 |
|
CM: Florentino Luis |
7.3/10 |
|
CM: Orkun Kokcu |
6.6/10 |
|
RW: Thank you Akturkoglu |
7.4/10 |
|
ST: Vangelis Pavlidis |
9.4/10 |
|
LW: Andreas Schjelderup |
6.9/10 |
|
UNDER: Leandro Barreiro (61' for Aursnes) |
6.1/10 |
|
UNDER: Angel Di Maria (71' for Schjelderup) |
6.2/10 |
|
UNDER: Alexander Bah (71' for Akturkoglu) |
6.2/10 |
|
UNDER: Benjamin Rollheiser (80' for Kokcu) |
6.0/10 |
|
UNDER: Zeki Amdouni (80' for Pavlidis) |
6.3/10 |
Unused subjects: Samuel Soares (GK), Adrian Bajrami, Gianluca Prestianni, Joao Rego, Nuno Felix, Arthur Cabral, Jan-Niklas Beste.
|
Player |
ASSESSMENT |
|---|---|
|
GC: Wojciech Szczesny |
5.5/10 |
|
RB: Jules Kounde |
6.1/10 |
|
CB: Ronald Araujo |
6.0/10 |
|
CB: Pau Cubarsi |
6.7/10 |
|
LB: Alejandro Balde |
7.1/10 |
|
CM: Gavi |
6.5/10 |
|
CM: Marc Casado |
7.3/10 |
|
CM: Pedro |
8.2/10 |
|
RW: Lamine Yamal |
8.0/10 |
|
ST: Robert Lewandowski |
8.8/10 |
|
LW: Rafinha |
9.3/10 |
|
UNDER: Frenkie de Jong (62' for Married) |
6.3/10 |
|
UNDER: Fermin Lopez (62' for Gavi) |
6.4/10 |
|
UNDER: Eric Garcia (74' for Kounde) |
7.5/10 |
|
UNDER: Ferran Torres (74' for Balde) |
7.2/10 |
|
UNDER: Gerard Martin (90+2' for Yamal) |
N/A |
Subs not used: Diego Kochen (GK), Inaki Pena (GK), Hector Fort, Andreas Christensen, Pablo Torre, Ansu Fati, Pau Victor.