Raphinha struck a second-half goal to give Barcelona a lion-hearted 1-0 victory against Benfica on Wednesday as they overcame a red card for Pau Cubarsi early in the game to steal an edge in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 contest.
Barcelona’s teenage defender Cubarsi was sent off for a last-man foul on Vangelis Pavlidis in the 22nd minute, but goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny saved the day. The Polish veteran made several great saves to keep Barca in the game, and Raphinha scored in the 61st minute after a sloppy defensive ball across the Benfica area.
He took advantage of the mistake by unleashing a low shot that glanced off a defender and went in inside the left post. Szczesny, who returned from retirement to play for Barca after Marc-Andre ter Stegen tore his knee ligament in September, was the star.
“Szczesny saved us many times today, he is outstanding,” Pedri told Movistar Plus.
“After going down a man early, the team’s effort deserves praise. We struggled some days, but today we defended brilliantly.”
After 30 seconds, Pavlidis recovered the ball and supplied Kerem Akturkoglu inside the box, who hit a low shot that Szczesny saved with one hand. The Polish keeper made eight saves, five in the second half as Benfica dominated with 60% possession and 15 goal attempts.
Barca had only two shots, with Raphinha scoring in the second half. Szczesny made a brilliant reflex save to deny Fredrik Aursnes from close range early in the second half and a great save to block Renato Sanches’s bullet shot from the box four minutes into extra time.
After the red card, we had good chances, but the result was disappointing. The result is frustrating “Aursnes said Benfica TV.
“We created a lot of chances, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to score and paid a heavy price for that…”
