Barcelona beats Benfica in the round of 16 of the Champions League
Barça plays with one less player since the 20th minute of the first half and scores with a goal from a Brazilian
BARCELONA’S VICTORY
Barcelona came out on top against Benfica in the Champions League round of 16. With a goal from Raphinha, Barça won the first leg 1-0 in Portugal. The return leg will be at 2:45 pm on Tuesday in Spain.
THE GAME
The game started off hotly and with good chances for Benfica, who were stopped by Szczesny. Soon after, Barcelona took control and almost opened the scoring with a sequence of shots from Lewandowski and Yamal, but goalkeeper Turbin excelled to prevent the goal. Everything changed in the 20th minute, when Cubarsí brought down Pavlidis on the edge of the area. The striker was face to face with Szczesny when he was fouled. Cubarsí received a red card and left Barcelona with one less player. The Portuguese team imposed the pace of the match and came close to scoring, but the Barça goalkeeper did well whenever he was called upon.
Szczesny continued to be the star of the game in the second half. Benfica had several chances to open the scoring, but the Barcelona goalkeeper shone to deny the Portuguese team any chances. In the 15th minute, Raphinha took advantage of António Silva’s mistake and shot from outside the area. The ball went into the left corner of the net, but Trubin was unable to prevent Barcelona from scoring. Barça won 1-0.
