Barcelona is within 90 minutes from the reach of the quarterfinals of the Champions League after Wednesday night, a strenuous 1-0 victory over Benfica in Lisbon.
Barcelona Hansi Flick played three -quarters of a game with a player less after Pao Cubarsi was sent in the middle of the first half, but Raphinha managed to beat him in visitors to the Catalan.
Wojciech Szczesny also achieved a huge effect on the aim of supporting victory.
How the game took place
Things started with 100mph because Szczesny pulled a great savings from Kerem Akturkoglu in the opening minute, responding to a shot from Benfica’s wing player to fill it. Both sides had more chances in early exchanges, before Barcelona was placed in a dominant role.
Benfica had goalkeeper Anatoliya Trubin because of the maintenance of the level of things as a goalie who somehow denied Dani Olmo, Robert Lewandowski and Lamina Yamal.
But in the middle of the first half, Barca found herself on ten players. Pau Cubarsi was found guilty of denying Vangelis Pavlidis the opportunity to score after the Benfice striker broke through the middle. The decision on the ground was a red map and Var agreed.
Szczesny has strongly saved the resulting free kick from the orcuna cognac, and the momentum clearly changed to Benfica’s benefit thanks to their manufacturing man. The Barcelona veteran goalkeeper had to be warned to prevent Andreas Schjelderup form that glued to a dangerous ball, before another big stop at the final stages of the first half, steering the Akturkoglu header.
In the second half and Pavlidis took a good chance of reducing Alvar Carreras on the left, perhaps deserving the benefit of doubt about the slight deviation on the cross into the frame.
Even with mitigation, Benfica was made to regret missing it almost immediately. Just minutes later, Raphinha put Barcelona in front of the game race. Antonio Silva was guilty of a messy passage in Benfica’s half picked up Raphinh, who knocked down the ball forward and drilled a low shot into the lower corner of Trubin’s goal from 25 meters.
Benfica knew that after being handed over to him at home against her impoverished Barcelona, their opportunity was decaying. Bruno Lage put on the veteran Italian attacker Andrea Belotti and issued clear instructions to reach numbers forward. Flick started the opposite, wanting to preserve a slender leadership and put the defense attorney Gerard Martin for Robert Lewandowski.
Belotti was desperately appealing to his sentence at the final stages as he tried to round off the Szczesny, only to make the offside of the flag anytime if it was or not irrelevant. Barca then survived the worrying Benfica Corners Stock Exchange approaching the stop time, while Szczesny’s 94. Munut salvation from replacement Renato Sanches ultimately saw his team to win.
See the Benfica players’ grades against Barcelona.
In 18 years and 42 days, Pau Cubarsi is now the youngest player to ever send to the knockout of the Champions League match. We are talking about really fine margins because Barca Central Bek, when Vangelis Pavlidis let him break the defensive line, actually intervened.
Cabarsi caught up with Pavlidis and managed to hook his leg at the front of Benfice striker, with a ball there to win. But just positioning was not enough. He quite literally missed the ball and instead crept into the man, lowering Pavlidis. If he had taken the ball, as he was in the main position, the conversation would have referred to the world -class goals and not on the red ticket.
It takes only an inch, instead it is a well -deserved release.
From the original dictating of the game, until sitting deep and hoping he would oppose, the red card massively changed things. As soon as Cbarsi was off the field, Hansi Flick wanted a defensive reinforcement, deciding to score Dani Olm to find Ronald Araujo to return four.
He obviously removed Olm’s influence and threat from the game and prevented Barcelona from having a way out with which he would play through the field. The impact effect from this Robert Lewandowski was also too isolated to really leave his mark on the competition.
He made a very UN-Barcelona performance, relying on the defensive discipline and feeding on the attack on three quarters of the game.
Regardless of this frustrated by his performance or the thought of withdrawing, Lamine Yamal didn’t look particularly thrilled to come down from the field only 11 minutes in the second half.
Flick decided that he wanted Ferran Torres on the ground and Yamal, so often Barcelona’s X-Factor had been a sacrificed player in the last 18 months.
It is rare for Yamal to play less than 90 minutes, let alone under 60 years of age. But his way out here coincided with the left Bek Alvaro Carreras, former Manchester United, starting with dangerous runs, so it stands that stopping that threat to the right flank could enter it.
When Ferran went to the left, Raphinha moved to the right instead of Yamal to strengthen things.
Re -winding last August and Barcelona desperately wanted to bring Nico Williams from the Athletic Club. If this approach was not limited by club finances, Raphinha could very well tightened toward the periphery, and probably even the door.
But what kind of season was it for for the Brazilian winged player. He spent a large part of this as a captain, carrying a tape, while Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araujo placed aside and scored his 25th goal of a wonderful campaign to put this connection in favor of his team.
Nine of his goals this season came in nine Champions League appearances, while this is immensely 41 participation of goal and counting in all competitions.
Sometimes, what you need is not what you want, but what you already have.
Barcelona would not win in this game without Raphinha’s goal, but the reason they had the basis to ask for victory was at all the master performance of Wojciech Szczesny.
It’s a guy who has completely moved away from football late last season. He was retired when Barcelona picked him up as an emergency blanket after a Marc-andre Ter Stegen injury and it took him some time to drop an inaki pen from the starter position.
SZCZESNY made eight savings during the game, including three really big to denies Kerema Akturkog (twice in the first half) and Renato Sanches at death.
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