Barcelona claimed a hard-fought 1-0 Champions League victory over Benfica thanks to Raphinha’s second-half strike on Wednesday.
Former Sporting CP attacker Raphinha struck just after the hour mark against his old club’s rivals at Estadio da Luz, having capitalised on a sloppy pass from Benfica’s Antonio Silva.
Yet Barca far from had it all their own way, with Hansi Flick’s team having been reduced to 10 men in the 22nd minute, when Pau Cubarsi saw red for a last-man foul on Vangelis Pavlidis.
Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, though, turned in a brilliant display, making a string of saves to set the stage for Raphinha’s match-winning effort.
Szczesny had another big stop to make late on, denying Renato Sanches, as despite having 26 shots and accumulating 1.9 expected goals to Barca’s 1.19, Benfica were thwarted.
Data Debrief: Szczesny saves the day
Raphinha has been one of the best players in Europe this season, and is now on 20 Champions League goal involvements across his career. He is the fourth-quickest player, in terms of appearances, to hit that figure in the competition, having done so in 21 games (12 goals, eight assists). Only Erling Haaland (130, Ruud van Nistelrooy (19) and Luis Suarez (19) needed fewer matches to get there.
In fact, since the start of 2024, Raphinha has been directly involved in more Champions League goals than any other player (17 in 13 appearances – 12 goals, five assists).
However, it was goalkeeper Szczesny who kept Barca in the contest after defender Cubarsi became the youngest player ever to be sent off in a Champions League knockout stage match (at the age of 18 years and 42 days).
1- Pau Cubarsí has suffered his first red card for @FCBarcelona in all competitions (65 games). At 18 years and 42 days old, he is the second youngest player to be sent off in #UCL history after Celestine Babayaro in 1994 (16 years and 86 days). Red. pic.twitter.com/ykHJM7R66H
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 5, 2025
Szczesny made eight saves in total, a record for any Barca goalkeeper in a Champions League match in which they did not concede since at least the start of 2003-04.
Despite Cubarsi’s dismissal, Benfica defender Silva ultimately made the game’s most costly error, on the day he became the Portuguese player with the most Champions League starts while aged 21 or younger, having moved ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 20.
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