Barcelona defeated Benfica 1-0

Barcelona defeated Benfica 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 match on Wednesday thanks to a tough, professional effort from their ten-man squad. Thirty seconds into the first half, Wojciech Szczesny made a fantastic stop, while Anatoliy Trubin made a spectacular double save to deny Robert Lewandowski.

After 20 minutes, Benfica managed to get past Barca's defence, and Pau Cubarsi used a sliding tackle to bring down Vangelis Pavlidis on the box's edge. VAR affirmed the referee's decision to send Cubarsi off as the last man. Benfica put Szczesny to the test many times, but on the hour, Raphinha grabbed a lost ball in midfield, surged forward, and took aim from a distance, finding the bottom corner with a tiny deflection to give 10-man Barca the lead. After fouling Andrea Belotti in the area, Szczesny was lucky to escape handing up a late penalty, but the Italian was judged offside during the build-up.