itstargetnews
Barcelona staged an extraordinary and controversial comeback to beat Benfica 5-4 in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.
Rafinha’s 96th-minute effort sealed the contest for the Catalans as the Brazilian burst onto the pitch and scored the decisive goal before Benfica were furious, believing they should have been awarded a penalty at the other end.
The opening stages featured the duality of the Spanish heavyweights, with sloppy defending allowing Vangelis Pavlidis to break the deadlock before Robert Lewandowski’s composed spot kick equalised.
But there was nothing subtle about Wojciech Szczesny’s performance at the Estadio da Luz as the Polish goalkeeper endured a disappointing opening half hour. A catastrophic collision with Barcelona Left-back Alejandro Bald gifted Pavlidis his second of the match, before Szczesny awarded Benfica the penalty from which the Greek striker completed his hat-trick.
Barcelona reduced the deficit after the hour mark with an unorthodox effort, Rafinha deflecting Benfica goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin’s misjudged pass past the Ukrainian from outside the penalty area.
Barcelona’s comeback hopes appeared short-lived as Benfica restored their two-goal lead, with Ronald Araujo heading into his own net from Andreas Schjeldrup’s near-post cross as another personal error proved costly for the visitors.
But Benfica were on hand to gift Barcelona another way back into action 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 securing his brace after sending Trubin the wrong way.
Barcelona eventually grabbed a dramatic equalizer as they piled the pressure on their hosts, Erik Garcia heading home to save their blushes in the 86th minute, but there was still time for more drama in Portugal.
Leandro Barreiro was arguably pushed into the penalty area before Rafinha raced down the other end of the pitch against Barcelona for the first time in the match, but referee Danny McKay and VAR were unperturbed as the visitors clinched a controversial and controversial victory. A surprising victory.
|
Player |
rating |
|---|---|
|
GK: Anatoly Trubin |
3.6/10 |
|
RB: Tomás Araujo |
5.6/10 |
|
CB: Anthony Silva |
5.4/10 |
|
CB: Nicolas Otamendi |
6.2/10 |
|
LB: Alvaro Carreras |
7.0/10 |
|
Chief Minister: Frederick Orsness |
6.6/10 |
|
Chief Minister: Florentino Luis |
7.3/10 |
|
Chief Minister: Orkun Kokku |
6.6/10 |
|
RW: Thanks Akturkoglu |
7.4/10 |
|
ST: Vangelis Pavlidis |
9.4/10 |
|
LW: Andreas Sjelderup |
6.9/10 |
|
Sub: Leandro Barreiro (61′ for Orsons) |
6.1/10 |
|
Sub: Angel Di Maria (71′ for Skjeldrup) |
6.2/10 |
|
Sub: Alexander Bah (71′ for Akturkoglu) |
6.2/10 |
|
Sub: Benjamin Rolheiser (for 80′ Kokku) |
6.0/10 |
|
Sub: Zeki Amdouni (80′ for Pavlidis) |
6.3/10 |
Subs not used: Samuel Soares (GK), Adrian Bajrami, Gianluca Prestianni, Joao Rego, Nuno Felix, Arthur Cabral, Jan-Niclas Beste.
|
Player |
rating |
|---|---|
|
GK: 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 |
|
Chief Minister: Gavi |
6.5/10 |
|
Chief Minister: Mark Casado |
7.3/10 |
|
Chief Minister: Pedri |
8.2/10 |
|
RW: Lamin Yamal |
8.0/10 |
|
ST: Robert Lewandowski |
8.8/10 |
|
LW: Rafinha |
9.3/10 |
|
Sub: Frankie de Jong (62′ married) |
6.3/10 |
|
Sub: Fermin Lopez (62′ for Gavi) |
6.4/10 |
|
Sub: Eric Garcia (74′ for Counde) |
7.5/10 |
|
Sub: Ferran Torres (74′ Balde) |
7.2/10 |
|
Sub: Gerard Martin (90+2′ for Yamal) |
N/A |
Subs not used: Diego Kochen (GK), Inaki Pena (GK), Hector Forte, Andreas Christensen, Pablo Torre, Ansu Fati, Pau Victor.
