The Catalan giants were indebted to their Brazilian winger and the brilliance of their goalkeeper to secure a first-leg advantage in Lisbon
Barcelona, with 10 men, put in a gritty, professional performance to beat Benfica 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.
An electric opening to the first half saw Wojciech Szczesny make an excellent stop 30 seconds in, while Robert Lewandowski was denied by a brilliant double save from Anatoliy Trubin.
On 20 minutes, Benfica broke beyond Barca’s press and Pau Cubarsi brought down Vangelis Pavlidis on the edge of the box with a slide tackle. As the last man, Cubarsi was sent off by the referee, a decision that was upheld by VAR.
Benfica repeatedly tested Szczesny, but on the hour, 10-man Barca took the lead as Raphinha intercepted a loose ball in midfield, drove forward, and took aim from range, finding the bottom corner via a slight deflection.
Szczesny was fortunate to avoid giving away a late penalty, as he fouled Andrea Belotti in the box, but the Italian was ruled to be offside in the build-up. The Pole then made a superb late save to deny Renato Sanches at the death.
GOAL rates Barcelona’s players from Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica…