Barcelona’s UCL drama! Raphinha shines as 10-man Barca edges Benfica
Barcelona’s UCL drama! Raphinha shines as 10-man Barca edges Benfica
Raphinha struck a second-half winner to give Barcelona a lion-hearted 1-0 victory at Benfica on Wednesday as it overcame a red card for Pau Cubarsi early in the game to steal an advantage in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Barcelona’s teenage defender Cubarsi was given a straight red card for a last-man foul on Vangelis Pavlidis in the 22nd minute, but the visitor hung on with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny putting in a brilliant performance.
The Polish veteran pulled off a string of brilliant saves to keep Barca in the game, and his effort was rewarded in the 61st minute when Raphinha pounced on a poor defensive pass across the Benfica box.
He then capitalised on the mistake, firing a low strike that deflected off a defender before going in just inside the left post.
