Ten-man Barcelona claimed a slim 1-0 away victory over Benfica in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie.
Despite being reduced to ten men, the Catalans triumphed, with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and Raphinha coming to the rescue.
Brazilian forward, Raphinha scored the only goal of the game, while Szczesny made several saves to deny the Portuguese club.
Barca almost conceded in the first minute with a mistake in the backline, however, Kerem Akturkoglu could not make it count.
The Catalans then regained momentum and kept pressing for the opener. Dani Olmo and Pau Cubarsi missed their chances in the first 10 minutes, to open the scoreline.
Benfica goalkeeper, Anatoliy Trubin then came to the rescue as he made three straight saves to deny Barca. Trubin first parried Raphinha’s effort, before denying Lewandowski and Yamal with his quick response.
Szczesny also made a fine diving save to stop Andreas’ effort to open the mark for his brilliant night.
However, the visitors got reduced to 10 men when Cubarsí was sent off after bringing down Vangelis Pavlidis in the 22nd minute. The resulting free kick was then saved by the Barcelona’s goalkeeper.
Hansi Flick had to strengthen the defense as he brought on Ronald Araujo to replace Olmo.
Szczesny was called into action again two minutes to the end of the first half, and the Barca shot-stopper came out to block Akturkoglu’s header.
The second half resumed with the Polish goalkeeper displaying his brilliance once again. He went on to deny Orkun Kokcu and Fredrik Aursnes powerful efforts.
However, Barcelona opened the lead against the run of play in the 62nd minute. A missed pass from Antonio Silva was picked up by Raphinha, who drove forward a bit before unleashing a shot past Trubin.
The hosts tried to fight back but Jules Kounde stood firm to block Pavlidis’ effort.
The visitors were saved again by Szczesny, as he comfortable gathered Akturkoglu’s shot.
The Polish man almost had his night stained when he fouled Andrea Belotti in the box. However, the referee signalled offside and cancelled the penalty.
Szczesny then sealed the victory with a diving save to parry Renato Sanches’ powerful volley in stoppage time.
The Catalans took home the slim victory and will be welcoming Benfica in Spain for the return leg next Tuesday.
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