It was a rollercoaster and thrilling clash in Lisbon as Barcelona crossed swords with Portuguese giants Benfica in the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League matchweek 7 cracker, MySportDab reports.
In a match that could be rightly regarded as the most dramatic and intense of the matchweek 7 round one fixtures, the two sides settled for a nine-goal thriller in front of a charged crowd at Lisbon.
Right from the start, the stage was set for a nervy finish. Just two minutes after the referee set the game rolling, Pavlidis fired Benfica into the lead.
11 minutes later, Robert Lewandowski scored from the spot to tie the score after the hosts conceded a penalty. However, Lewandowski’s equalizer turned out to be the visitors’ only goal in the first half.
Two costly errors by Wojciech Szczęsny saw Barcelona give away two quick goals – one from a defensive blunder between the goalkeeper and his teammate and the other from a spot-kick that he conceded after a wild challenge on Benfica player.
Benfica effectively leveraged the two big opportunities to return to the lead and extend it before the break but they weren’t just ready for Barcelona’s fightback in the second half.
Trailing 3-1, Raphinha opened the scoring for the away side in the 64th minute to reduce the deficit.
4 minutes later, the visitors were undone again as Ronald Araujo conceded an own goal to hand Benfica a 4-2 lead.
The goal saw the hosts re-extend the lead but unfortunately they conceded a spot-kick in the 77th minute and Robert Lewandowski converted it to reduce the deficit again.
Three minutes before regulation time, Garcia scored again for the Hansi Flick-led side to make it a dramatic 4-4 draw but the Catalan giants weren’t done with the game.
At the last touch of the ball in the 90+6th minute, Raphinha wrapped up a dramatic and thrilling comeback win for the team with the 5th goal.
It ended in a 5-4 victory for the Barcelona after the final whistle, marking their 6th win in the competition.
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