Barcelona turned things around in their Champions League clash against Benfica to claim the 3 points and qualify for the round of 16. This game was full of drama and adrenaline, showcasing the quality of this competition. This was a perfect Champions League night for Barcelona fans and neutrals.
The First Half
Barcelona conceded the first goal in the 2nd minute of the game, Benfica’s Álvaro Carreras assisted with a brilliant cross from the left flank netted by Pavlidis to make it 1-0.
Things started pretty difficult for the Catalans, but they responded with an equalizer off Lewandowski’s penalty in the 13th minute to make it level. Overall Barcelona was in control of the play holding most of the possession.
At the 22′ minute of the game, Barcelona lost possession in attack and Benfica’s defense cleared the ball from danger which landed in Barcelona’s half. Balde was the one running toward the ball, Barcelona’s goalkeeper Szczęsny came out of the box as a sweeper keeper looking to clear the ball. Both Balde and Szczęsny collided into each other which led to Benfica’s second goal as the ball was netted in the goal by Pavlidis who made it 2-1.
After this incident, Barcelona needed an equalizer until a Benfica attack led to a penalty for the hosts. Benfica was attacking at the 30′ minute of the game, Barcelona was unable to clear the ball properly and it fell into the feet of Benfica’s Aktürkoğlu, Szczęsny dived in to claim the ball but Aktürkoğlu capitalized on the goalkeeper’s dive and claimed a penalty off a soft contact. The penalty was converted by Pavlidis who made it 3-1.
Barcelona went into the tunnel with a poor defensive display and needed to win to qualify for the next stage. Standout individual performances in the first half were Balde and Pedri, both youngsters were active and were constantly looking to attack from the spaces between lines.
The Second half
At half-time, Hansi Flick made significant changes to the tactics. Barcelona improved their positioning, Raphinha was shifted to a more central role to make attacks from the right-hand side of the field, while Balde was in charge of the left flank.
Barcelona started off the second half focusing on attack, Barcelona created many chances but was unable to finish them. Luckily due to Benfica’s distribution mistake, Raphinha scored the second for Barcelona. This goal was pure luck but got one goal back for Barcelona. Benfica were looking to hurt Barcelona on the counters and four minutes later Benfica scored the fourth off Araujo’s own goal. The score was 4-2 in the 68th minute.
Flick made some substitutions which changed the game significantly, Fermin Lopez and Frenkie De Jong were called upon to replace Casado and Gavi. Both players brought fresh legs and helped Barcelona in the attacking front. At 76′ minutes of the game, Barcelona was given a penalty and Lewandowski calmly converted it to make the score 4-3. This brought hope back for the Catalans.
Flick added Eric Garcia, and Ferran Torres to the field replacing Kounde and Balde. These changes made Barcelona more dangerous in attack, as the formation changed to 3-2-5 with 5 attacking players. Barcelona pulled the equalizer off Pedri’s amazing assist to Eric Garcia at 86′ minutes of the game.
The referee added only four extra minutes to this head-to-head game. Benfica was awarded a free-kick at 90 +4′ minutes of the game, it seemed like the game would end as a draw. Di Maria took the free-kick landing the ball in Barcelona’s box, the ball stayed in a dangerous position with uncertain clearances and drama in the box, until when Ferran Torres cleared the ball and it landed on Raphinha. Raphinha took the ball from the half-way line and was in a 1 v 3 situation, he calmly finished it completing the “Remontada” for Barcelona. This game was full of goosebumps.
Key Performers
Although Barcelona was poor defensively, the standout performance from defense was Balde. He was impressive both defensively and in the attacking department. Pedri was just outstanding, he controlled Barcelona’s midfield alone and was key in this comeback. Raphinha was poor in the first half but shifted gears in the second, and showed why he is regarded as a ‘big game player’. This game highlighted Barcelona’s defensive spores, The positive thing to highlight from this game is Barcelona’s fighting spirit. This fire and mentality was missing for several years and we finally witnessed it. Huge shout-out to our substitutes for today De Jong, Ferran, and Garcia who were significant in the comeback.