Raphinha’s second-half strike secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory for Barcelona against Benfica in their Champions League last-16 first-leg clash on Wednesday.
Despite being reduced to 10 men early on, the Catalan giants showed remarkable resilience to claim a crucial advantage.
The turning point came in the 22nd minute when teenage defender Pau Cubarsi was shown a straight red card for a last-man challenge on Vangelis Pavlidis.
With Barcelona down a man, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny stepped up with a sensational performance, making a series of vital saves to keep his team in contention.
Barcelona’s breakthrough arrived in the 61st minute after a costly defensive error by Benfica. A misplaced pass across the box fell to Raphinha, who wasted no time punishing the hosts.
His low strike took a deflection before nestling inside the left post, sealing the win for the visitors.
While Raphinha delivered the decisive goal, Szczesny was the true hero of the night. The veteran Polish shot-stopper came out of retirement to fill in for Marc-André ter Stegen, who has been sidelined since September with a torn knee ligament. His heroics did not go unnoticed.
“Szczesny saved us many times today, he is outstanding,” Barcelona midfielder Pedri told Spanish TV station Movistar Plus.
