Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI; Raphinha scored the only goal as FC Barcelona played for 70 minutes with a player less to win 1-0 at Benfica in the first leg of its Champions League last-16 tie after being under pressure for virtually the entire 90 minutes. The game started brightly with Kerem Akturkoglu seeing his first-minute shot saved by Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, before Nicolas Otamendi had a shot blocked as Benfica started brightly.
At the other end, Dani Olmo fired just wide, before Barca was reduced to 10 men after just 22 minutes when Pau Cubarsi was sent off for bringing down Vangelis Pavlidis when he was the last defender, reports Xinhua. Szczesny saved Orkun Kokcu’s free kick, while Barca coach Hansi Flick replaced Olmo with defender Ronald Araujo.
Raphinha had a good chance for Barca, while at the other end, Szczesny produced a reflex save to frustrate Pavlidis’ chance from close range. The Barcelona goalkeeper made two more good saves early in the second half, before Ferran Torres replaced the tiring Lamine Yamal shortly before Raphinha put Barcelona ahead with a stunning shot into the bottom corner from well outside the area.
Benfica increased the pressure, but Szczesny was having his best game for Barcelona since joining last autumn and was virtually unbeatable, as shown by his flying stop to deny Renato Sanchez in the last minute.
Meanwhile, Liverpool substitute Harvey Elliot scored the only goal as Liverpool won 1-0 at Paris Saint-Germain, who deserved much more from a game they dominated almost from start to finish.
Elliot had been on the pitch for less than a minute when he took a pass from Darwin Nunez to score with a left-foot shot after his side had been under pressure for nearly the whole game.
