What now for Szczesny?
Wojciech Szczęsny had a big part to play in the unforgettable win after being handed a start in goal against Benfica ahead of Inaki Pena. Flick talked him up as a “one of the club’s best signings” ahead of kick-off but it really didn’t look like that in Portugal.
With the scores still at 1-1, and Barca on the front foot after equalising, Szczesny came racing out of his goal and succeeded only in taking out Alejandro Balde and allowing Vangelis Pavlidis the simple task of putting the ball into an empty net.
What. A. Comeback
Barcelona beat Benfica 5-4 in the Champions League on Tuesday in what was the game of the season so far and undoubtedly one of the club’s wildest ever wins.
The match had just about everything: bags of goals, penalties, goalkeeping howlers, bucketloads of rain, the weirdest header Raphinha will ever score, raucous celebrations, and Benfica getting a very public telling off on the pitch from manager Bruno Lage after twice throwing away a two-goal lead.
Hansi Flick admitted he’d never seen anything like it before, while Pau Cubarsi called it the “craziest” game he had ever experienced. It was simply unforgettable stuff.
Barca through but doubts remain
The win sends Barcelona automatically through to the last 16 of the competition, along with Liverpool, which is great news for the club. Teams won’t want to draw either club in the next round but this win did show up Barca’s weaknesses once again.
Flick’s high line was exposed on a regular basis, as Benfica scored four times and looked dangerous almost every time they attacked.
Barca’s offside trap has worked wonderfully well this season (just ask Kylian Mbappe) but is also susceptible to third-man runs and cross-field balls played over the top – something Benfica used to good effect on Tuesday.
