This year’s round of 16 in the Champions League was nerve-wracking for F.C. Barcelona. Even though all the predictions pointed at them as the team with a clear advantage in the match against S.L. Benfica, the victory didn’t come easy. For a big part of the game, all cards were seemingly stacked against the Catalan team.
Issues appeared before the first minute of the match passed, as Benfica attacked Barcelona’s goal within the first 10 seconds. The Portuguese team kept the pressure on afterwards. After the first 5 minutes of the game, they already had three attempted shots to Barca’s one.
The situation quickly went from bad to worse. Around the 20th minute, Vangelis Pavlidis, Benfica’s centre-forward, was heading for a one-on-one encounter with Barcelona’s goalkeeper. Pau Cubarsi, the Catalan team’s young centre-back, tackled his opponent, while trying to kick the ball from underneath his feet. The last-man foul earned him a red card and left Barca with 10 players on the field for the remaining 70 minutes of the game.
The unexpected development led to Barcelona’s manager, Hansi Flick, making quick changes to the squad. In order to strengthen the defense, weakened by Cubarsi’s departure, he subbed Dani Olmo for a centre-back Ronald Araujo.
Barcelona struggled to regain their usual flow on the field. The game became much more leveled and heated. The last minutes of the first half saw multiple yellow cards for players from both teams.
A breakthrough for Barcelona happened in the 61st minutes when Raphinha scored the game’s only goal. This pushed his total to 9 goals scored in the last 9 Champions League games, equalling the total of his teammate, Robert Lewandowski. With that, Barca was in the lead and had some more room to breathe throughout the rest of the match.
Benfica pushed on until the very last minute, creating a dangerous situation after a dangerous situation. While throughout most of the game the teams seemed leveled, despite Barcelona’s weakened state, its last minutes were dominated by Benfica. The action happened entirely by Barca’s goal, forcing the team to focus on defending, rather than finding a chance to score.
The victory would not have been possible without the efforts of the Polish goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczęsny. He made 8 saves against Benfica and managed to keep a clean slate throughout the challenging match. No matter what the Portuguese team threw at him, he was always in the right place and ready to intervene.
Flick complemented the goalkeeper after his game. “It’s clear that Szczęsny is different every match, he has more confidence and we are defending better,” he explained. He went on to add that he wasn’t surprised by seeing the goalkeeper’s level: “I see him everyday in training”
Szczęsny wasn’t officially named the “Player of the Match”, that title went to Barcelona’s indispensable midfielder, Pedri. After Olmo was subbed off, he had to play for two players and managed to do so flawlessly. Just like Szczęsny he was always in the right place, at the right time, ready to push the game forward. He acknowledged the goalkeepers contributions in a post-game interview. “Szczęsny saved us many times (…) Today we knew how to defend.”
As stressful as the match may have been for Barcelona’s fans, it did end in an impressive victory. The team managed to dig itself out of a tough spot. They are heading into the second leg of the round of 16 with a goal to their name. Will the benefit be enough for them to advance? That will be settled on March 11 in Barcelona.
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our newsletter here. Check out Stadium Rant Original shows on our Youtube channel and subscribe! Give our socials Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok a follow for more great content!
