Barça achieves an epic victory, comeback included, against a Benfica that took advantage of the blaugranas' mistakes to take a two-goal lead. These 3 points set Barça on the path to qualification after a very tough draw against Getafe. The next match will be against Valencia next weekend at Montjuïc, to try to regain lost ground.
Major Mistakes
This match, due to the atmosphere and the competition it is, was already going to be complicated in itself. On top of that, before the 2nd minute, the Portuguese were going to put the score at 1-0. Good cross from Álvaro Carreras to a Pavlidis who gets ahead of Pau Cubarsí, scoring the first goal.
The reply was going to come in the form of a penalty after Antonio Silva brought down Balde. Lewandowski was going to be the one to take that penalty and also score it, the 103rd of his career in the Champions League. However, in an isolated play, Balde collides with Szczęsny and Pavlidis scores the 2-1 with ease.
This wasn't going to end there, as the Polish goalkeeper brought down Arturkoglu and the referee called a penalty. The Greek forward would be the one to make it 3-1, a hat trick for the Greek forward, thus breaking his goal drought. After this, there were going to be dangerous plays for Barça, but they couldn't finish any of them well.
Madness Reigns
This second half makes no sense, first because everything suggested that the blaugranas weren't going to be able to get a positive result. It started with a semi-error from Trubin, who, when clearing the ball, hits Raphinha's head, unintentionally scoring the 3-2. However, the joy was going to last only a few minutes, as in an isolated play Araújo was going to score an own goal, once again at Barça's best moment.
However, in a match like this, everything changes in a matter of seconds, Lamine enters the area and is brought down, thus generating the second penalty for the visitors. The Pole was going to cut the distance again, deceiving the Ukrainian goalkeeper and putting the score at 4-3. After this, Flick's team threw themselves into attack, and thanks to a genius move by Pedri, Eric García scored the equalizer with a precise header, unleashing joy on the bench.
Meanwhile, Benfica had some dangerous chances, mainly because there were many spaces after the culé system change. Di María found himself in front of Szczęsny, but unlike what had happened during the match, this time he stuck out a foot to keep his team in the game.
Culé Ecstasy
The climax of this duel was going to come in the last minute, Ferran sends a ball into space for Raphinha, who wasn't going to miss. Good cut in front of Álvaro Carreras and a cross shot to put the final 4-5 on the scoreboard, thus completing a heroic comeback. This victory mathematically secures qualification for the next round without having to go through that preliminary phase, as they will be among the top 8.
After several mistakes, errors, and missteps in finishing, the culés secure 3 points that allow them to fight for that first place, which currently belongs to Liverpool. The last match of this new group stage will be played next week, against Atalanta and at Lluís Companys.