Barcelona managed to return from the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon with a historic victory over Benfica 5-4 in the penultimate round of the league stage of the 2025 Champions League.
Benfica took an early lead through Vangelis Pavlidis in the second minute, then Robert Lewandowski equalized in the 13th minute, but Pavlidis returned with two goals in the 22nd and 30th minutes to complete a hat-trick in the first half.
In the second half, Raphinha managed to reduce the difference in the 64th minute, but Ronald Araujo scored Benfica’s fourth goal by mistake, and everyone thought that things ended here.
But the comeback began in the last 20 minutes, as Robert Lewandowski scored his second goal of the match and Barcelona’s third from a penalty kick in the 78th minute.
🔥🔥 مباراة تاريخية .. ريمونتادا تاريخية
⚽️ رافينيا يسجل الهدف الخامس لبرشلونة ويقلب الطاولة على بنفيكا#دوري_أبطال_أوروبا | #بنفيكا_برشلونة #UCL pic.twitter.com/yKpowZ4I4G
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 21, 2025
The equalizer came from a perfect header by substitute Eric Garcia, before Raphinha exploded the joy of the Catalan club’s fans with a goal in the 96th minute from a counterattack that he led perfectly and put into Benfica’s net.
With this victory, Barcelona reaches 18 points, and officially guarantees its qualification to the round of 16 directly by being in one of the top eight places.
Barcelona will play against Atalanta next week in the last round of the league stage, in a match that will be a “premium” for the Catalans.
