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Barcelona and SL Benfica played a classic match last night, one for the ages, at the Estadio da Luz in the UEFA Champions League, when the Catalans pulled off a surprising 5-4 comeback in the final minute of the match.
After trailing early in the match, Barça managed to equalize through a Robert Lewandowski penalty, only to concede two more goals before the half-hour mark thanks to massive errors by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
A comical moment in the second half saw Barça make it 3-2 when a clearance by the Benfica goalkeeper bounced off Raphinha’s head and the ball went into the goal.
Benfica regained their two-goal lead minutes later, but Lewandowski converted another penalty in the 78th minute before Eric Garcia made it 4-4 in the 86th minute.
Just when it seemed that the two teams would share the spoils, Raphinha had the opportunity to score after a quick counterattack in the 96th minute to give his team the victory.
Hansi Flick is happy with his attitude and wants to avoid mistakes
Speaking to the media after the epic match in Lisbon, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick highlighted his players’ attitude and mentality of not throwing in the towel at any point in the match.
“It was a crazy game. The best thing was the mentality. This is football. “I have never experienced a comeback like this before.” Flick said.
“They are very good in transitions and they marked us. They forced us to defend very far back because we were not well positioned. The substitutions helped us a lot.”
With this victory, Barça has secured a place in the top eight of the UCL standings and will qualify directly for the round of 16. But Flick insisted the job was not done, saying:
“For us now it is important to focus on Valencia and then Atalanta. We don’t think about being calm. “We also want to beat Atalanta.”
Regarding the change in tactics in the final stages of the match, when he opted for three centre-backs and many attackers, the Barcelona coach stated:
“We had to change something, we said that at halftime, and that’s the best thing about the game. The mentality of the players, believing in themselves. It was excellent. “I was already satisfied with one point, but with three it is even better.”
Flick highlighted that there is still much room for improvement and commented: “I think the most important thing is that we need time to train. We are making mistakes and that cannot be corrected with recovery sessions.
“It is difficult for the coaches, but we have reached the round of 16 and that is important for us because it gives us a break, precisely for that.”
Szczesny’s mistakes caused Barça to concede two goals in the first half, but the coach sympathized with the veteran goalkeeper and said:
“What player doesn’t make mistakes? We all do them. We win and lose together. “I liked what I saw in the second half.”
Going deeper into the performance of the Polish goalkeeper and explaining the decision to start him instead of Iñaki Peña, the German strategist stated:
“He made some mistakes in the first half. But like everyone else. In these situations I am not talking about individual actions. He then made important saves on Benica’s chances. We win together and we lose together.
“We analyze everything. Iñaki has done well. There is nothing against Iñaki, what I have done is a team decision. We will see what happens on Sunday.”
There was praise reserved for star midfielder Pedri, who was by far Barça’s best player of the night.
“He always wants the ball, creates the right play, sees the spaces. And he is very important to us. And he gave the assist to make it 4-4. He is capable of creating chances.” Flick said.
The Barcelona coach also praised the impact of substitute Eric García after his incorporation, saying:
“Eric is an important player for us and he is also one of the best headers we have in attack. And today he showed it. “He has a good mentality.”
Regarding what he thinks of Benfica’s strong protests against the referee for Barça’s winning goal in the last minute, where the VAR controlled a penalty for the locals and nothing was given, Flick said:
“They are one of the best teams in transition. I haven’t seen the latest work. He went to the VAR and they decided against Benfica. It’s part of football. I live in the now. It was an incredible ending. “It was an incredible game.”
Source: AS
