Champions League - Rafinha scored twice as Barcelona beat Benfica 5-4

In the 7th round of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League, Barcelona, who played away, defeated Benfica 5-4 after Lewandowski, Rafinha and Eric Garcia scored when they were leading.

Two minutes into the game, Carreras made a cross from the left, and Pavlidis scored against the defense, helping Benfica get off to a dream start with a score of 1-0. In the sixth minute, Carreras passed the ball to the front of the goal, and Arthurs shot but missed.

In the 11th minute, Balde was stepped on the foot by Benfica defender Tomas Araujo when he broke through the penalty area. After the intervention of VAR, the referee awarded Barcelona a penalty kick. Subsequently, Lewandowski scored a penalty kick to help Barcelona tie the score at 1-1.

In the 22nd minute, Barcelona goalkeeper Szczesny hit his teammate Balde when he attacked. Pavlidis got the ball and entered the penalty area and shot the ball into the empty goal, helping Benfica to lead Barcelona again with 2 to 1. In the 30th minute, Benfica winger Aktucoglu was knocked down by Szczesny when he was about to receive the pass from his teammate. The referee awarded Benfica a penalty kick. Subsequently, Pavlidis took the penalty kick and scored, helping Benfica to continue to lead Barcelona with 3 to 1.

In the 40th minute, Barcelona tried to counterattack, but Yamal's volley shot went wide. In the first half stoppage time, Lewandowski passed the ball to the penalty area, and Rafinha shot hard, but the ball went wide of the post.

Barcelona won 6 games in a row

In the 49th minute of the second half, Pedri passed the ball to the penalty area in the melee, Kounde received the ball and volleyed it, but the ball was caught by Benfica goalkeeper Trubin. In the 64th minute, Benfica goalkeeper Trubin kicked the ball and it hit Rafinha's head and bounced directly into the net, making Barcelona's score 2-3.

In the 68th minute, Benfica striker Kjeldrup made a cross pass to the goal, and Araujo accidentally shot the ball into his own goal when clearing the ball, allowing Benfica to expand its lead to 4 to 2. In the 77th minute, Yamal was pulled down by Carreras when fighting for the ball in the penalty area, and the referee awarded Barcelona a penalty kick. Lewandowski then took the penalty kick and scored, helping Barcelona to change the score to 3 to 4.

In the 86th minute, Fermin took a corner kick, Pedri received it and passed it to the front of the goal, Eric Garcia headed the ball and helped Barcelona tie the score at 4-4. In the second half stoppage time, Ferran Torres made a lob pass, Rafinha received it and entered the penalty area and broke through the defense to score, helping Barcelona to overtake 5-4.

In the end, Barcelona defeated Benfica 5-4 away from home. After winning six games in a row, Barcelona is currently ranked second in the standings with 18 points.