Barca Wins and Finishes in the top Eight Against Benfica Thanks to Raphinha’s Heroics

In the final seconds of stoppage time, Barcelona’s Raphinha scored to give his club a stunning 5–4 comeback victory over Benfica and guarantee their place atop the Champions League standings on Tuesday. Vangelis Pavlidis’ hat-trick gave the home team a two-goal lead at halftime, and this triumph came after that.

The Catalan team had a rough start at the Estadio da Luz and struggled with their previous La Liga record. Concerns were also raised by coach Hansi Flick’s decision to start custodian Wojciech Szczesny, as Benfica scored two goals thanks to the Polish keeper’s mistakes.

But Flick’s team came back late in the game to secure their spot in the next round. They are now in second position with 18 points from seven games as they get ready for the last group-stage matchups next week.

However, Benfica lost a chance to move into the top eight, which would have guaranteed them a place in the round of 16, and instead dropped to 18th place with 10 points, still in the playoff picture.

“We didn’t let ourselves get carried away when we were 3-1 down. It was a spectacular match for the spectators. Anyone could have won.”

Two minutes into the game, Greek striker Pavlidis scored with a straightforward tap-in. After VAR stepped in to give Barcelona a penalty for a foul by Tomás Araújo on Alejandro Balde in the eleventh minute, Robert Lewandowski immediately equalised the score from the penalty spot.

Benfica’s Pavlidis restored the lead after custodian Wojciech Szczesny missed a clearing, giving him an unguarded goal. After Szczesny fouled Kerem Aktürkoglu in the 30th minute, the 26-year-old scored his third goal with a penalty.

Anatoliy Trubin, the custodian for Benfica, made a costly error in the 64th minute when he unintentionally cleared the ball into Raphinha’s head, giving the visitors an odd goal that cut the score to 3-2.

Barcelona’s defensive problems continued, and four minutes later, Ronald Araújo’s own goal gave Benfica a bigger lead. Then, in the 78th minute, Lewandowski scored his second goal of the game with another accurate penalty.

“It was an incredible victory. The team didn’t lose their heads throughout the game,” defender Garcia explained. “When you start the game losing, it messes your plans.

“It’s important to qualify for the next round. We came with this objective in mind.”

Next Wednesday, Barça will play their final first-phase match against Atalanta, while Benfica will try to recover at Juventus.