In a dramatic contest in Lisbon with Benfica, Hansi Flick and his men came out victorious with Raphinha being the sole goal scorer of the match.
Early minutes of suffering
In the early minutes of the match, Benfica succeeded in creating chances and looked threatening after forcing an early save from Wojciech Szczesny. As the game progressed, Barca started gaining more control but soon faced a setback. Pavlidis looked to be through on goal after a wrong pass by Barca and Pau Cubarsi made a risky tackle which did not go as planned. The youngster was shown a red card by the ref, who refused to watch the replay where Frenkie de Jong looked to have been fouled in the play.
Benfica gain momentum as Flick’s men hold on
After Pau Cubarsi’s sending off Dani Olmo was sacrificed as Ronald Araujo came in to take charge of the defense. Benfica gained numerical advantage on the pitch and had more possession than expected. Although there were instances where Barca slowed down the tempo with Frenkie de Jong and La Pausa genius of Pedri, Benfica continued to create chance after chance.
Wojciech Szczesny steps up
Benfica succeeded in creating chance after chance as the game progressed and to everyone watching it looked like Barca’s UCL campaign was in jeopardy. However, Wojciech Szczesny had other plans, the Polish keeper was a wall between Benfica and the goal as he made a record 8 saves throughout the match. Szczesny’s 8 saves with a clean sheet is a feat not seen since the 2003/04 season by a Barca keeper. The Benfica ultras tried intimidating Barca players and Szczesny by launching fireworks, but the smoke seemed to just give the Polish keeper more confidence.
Raphinha shows up when it matters
In the 61st minute Antonio Silva’s misplaced pass was picked up by Raphinha who drove at the defense and still had 2 defenders in front of him. The Brazilian, against all odds, took a shot which had a slight deflection on its way to the bottom right corner. All of a sudden Barcelona were leading in Lisbon with 10 men. The Brazilian yet again showed up for Barca when it mattered the most. This is an aspect where he is ahead of Mohammed Salah in the Ballon d’Or race as the Egyptian has been fairly quiet in big games for Liverpool.
Pedri goes to war for Barca
The player of the match winner was Pedri, who arguably Szczesny deserved too for his heroics. Pedri was everywhere for Barca, as he ran the most out of any player in the match. The maestro also created the most chances for Barcelona while also being the most accurate passer (94%). Pedri slowed down the tempo of the game to break down Benfica’s momentum. He retained possession and many attempts of getting the ball off him ended up in fouls as he was the most fouled player. Defensively Pedri was solid and intense as he had the most interceptions and recoveries. Szczesny deserved the POTM award, there is no doubt about it, but Pedri deserved it just as much if not more.
Barcelona hold on to emerge victorious
Throughout the match Benfica looked dangerous on the attack and in the 82nd minute it looked like Benfica would be awarded a penalty but a VAR intervention ruled the play offside. Wojciech Szczesny and Barca remained calm and focused during all this time, a difference in mentality and maturity was visible compared to last season against PSG. At the final whistle Hansi Flick and his men left the stadium with a miraculous 1-0 advantage achieved with 10 men for the home leg.
