Raphinha’s Late Goal Secures Narrow Victory for 10-Man Barcelona Over Benfica in Lisbon

Barcelona, playing with only ten men, managed to secure a narrow victory over Benfica, winning by just a single goal in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash at the Estadio da Luz.

The home side almost grabbed an early lead when they capitalised on a mistake from Barcelona right from the kick-off. Kerem Aktürkoğlu was played in on goal, but his first-time shot was expertly tipped around the post by the alert Wojciech Szczesny after a mere 18 seconds.

Benfica kept up the pressure as Leandro Barreiro’s half-volley just over a minute later went over the crossbar, but Hansi Flick’s team gradually found their rhythm.

After Dani Olmo narrowly missed the target from the edge of the box, they were thwarted in spectacular fashion by Benfica’s keeper, Anatoliy Trubin, on 12 minutes. Raphinha delivered a decent ball to the captain, Frenkie De Jong, who was denied by Trubin’s quick reflexes.

The ball fell to Robert Lewandowski, who, despite being known for scoring tougher chances, surprisingly missed from just six yards out, with Trubin again coming to his team’s rescue. The Ukrainian then pulled off a ‘hat trick’ of saves shortly after, denying Lamine Yamal’s attempt.

Barcelona’s woes continued when Pau Cubarsí was sent off for bringing down Vangelis Pavlidis as the Greek forward raced towards goal. Szczesny then saved Orkun Kokcu’s resulting free kick and denied Akturkoglu’s close-range header.

The visitors showed resilience throughout the latter stages of the first half, with Álvaro Carreras intervening just before the whistle to prevent Yamal from tapping in during stoppage time.

Unlike their recent thrilling nine-goal league encounter just over a month earlier, tonight’s match saw both goalkeepers in outstanding form as Szczesny kept out efforts from Pavlidis and Fredrik Aursnes early in the second half.

However, there was nothing Trubin could do when Raphinha capitalised on a mistake from Antonio Silva on the hour mark. Raphinha surged forward before unleashing a low, powerful left-footed shot that found the bottom corner from outside the box.

Bruno Lage reacted promptly, introducing fresh attacking talent off the bench in a bid to equalise. One substitute, Andrea Belotti, appeared to win a penalty with less than ten minutes remaining after being brought down by Szczesny; however, VAR intervened to check, revealing that Belotti was offside in the build-up.

Joao Rego, Renato Sanches, and Arthur Cabral all went close to levelling the score from the bench as the match drew to a close. Ultimately, despite being under sustained pressure, Barcelona showcased their defensive capabilities, holding on for a slender advantage heading into the second leg.