10-man Barcelona Beat Benfica in
Champions League

Lisbon, 6 Mar (ONA) — Raphinha was
once again Barcelona’s hero as they claimed a narrow win over Benfica in the
first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie, despite going down to 10
men.

The Brazilian capitalised on a
defensive error to drive forward and slot in the bottom corner in the 61st
minute, notching his 25th goal of the season and ninth in the Champions League
campaign.

Raphinha also came to the rescue for
five-time winners Barca in January 2025 when the two sides met in the league
group phase, scoring a 96th-minute winner in a nine-goal thriller.

Meeting again at this knockout stage
of the competition, Barcelona had to play with 10 men from the 22nd minute
after teenager Pau Cubarsi brought down Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis on
the edge of the penalty box but, as the last man, received a straight red card.

The Portuguese hosts thought they
had a penalty in the 82nd minute after the otherwise faultless Wojciech
Szczesny brought down Andrea Belotti, but the spot-kick was overturned for
offside in the build-up.

Barcelona held on to take a narrow
lead to the Camp Nou for the second leg on Tuesday 11 March 2025.

— Ends/Khalid