Hansi Flick took the decision to start Szczęsny ahead of Peña in their Champions League Clash against Portuguese side Benfica. This decision turned out horrific for Barcelona.
Benfica scores to make it 1-0
Barcelona kicked off the game holding possession initially. As soon as Benfica took control of the ball, they opened up a quick attack from the left side of the pitch and scored the first goal of the game in the first minute.
Benfica’s Álvaro Carreras swirled an amazing cross from the left flank which was finished off by Pavlidis to make it 1-0.
Barcelona reacted strongly, dominated the play, and scored an equalizer off Lewandowski’s penalty in the 13th minute of the game to make it 1-1.
Szczęsny tackles Balde
As the game looked level from both sides, Barcelona had a slightly upper hand on the possession front.
In the 22nd minute of the game, Barcelona lost possession in attack and Benfica’s defense casually cleared the ball away into Barcelona’s half. Balde was confidently heading towards the ball to control it, on the other hand, Szczęsny came out of the box as a sweeper keeper looking to clear the ball. Both Balde and Szczęsny bumped into each other which led to Benfica’s second goal as the ball went through into goal.
Pavlidis was the scorer and made it 2-1 for Benfica, claiming his brace.
Szczęsny gives a penalty.
As Barcelona were looking to get back in the game and score the equalizer, things took a turn. Benfica was attacking at 30 minutes 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 was smart, and capitalized on the goalkeeper’s error and claimed a penalty off a soft contact.
Benfica made it 3-1 from the spot, and Pavlidis claimed his hattrick just 30 minutes into the game.
What’s next?
Barcelona have been poor defensively, they need to convert their chances in the second half to maintain their winning streak in the Champions League.