GROUP E | BARCELONA-BENFICA Barça depends on a miracle

The Barça of the Champions League, that of the three coaches in five games, will extend the suspense of their participation in the top European competition until the last moment and will have to look for a feat on the last day of the group stage. After drawing 0-0 with Benfica, The good news for the Blaugrana team is that it continues to depend on itself. The bad news is that it will be at the Allianz. Everything that is not winning in Munich makes Barça depend on a Lisbon slip against Dynamo Kiev.

Barça came out to play knowing that they had the Europa League assured by the defeat of Dinamo at home against Bayern and that they were one goal away from reaching the second round. And again, as against Espanyol, he was unable to translate his game into goals.

Under an intense rain that increased the sense of epic that already predicted the approach of the match, Xavi decided to give his speech one more turn in his second appearance as a Blaugrana coach. In attack, he reelled Yusuf Demir as a winger due to the lack of troops and the resignation of Coutinho and in defense, Lenglet and Araújo entered looking for superiority in the game by trying to control Darwin Núñez, who surprisingly did not start as a starter in the game. Lisbon set. Of course, with a defense of three completed by Gerard Piqué.

As it happened against Espanyol, Barça started the game again dominating the game, but without finishing off each of his approaches. In fact, the first Remarkable occasions of danger of the Blaugrana team were carried out by defenses on plays after steals. On the first occasion Araújo fired high and on the second, Alba’s shot was blocked by the Lisbon team’s goalkeeper.

Benfica recovered from Barcelona’s departure thanks to the gap that Lenglet offered in his defensive plot. The Frenchman returned to the title and in just three minutes, those who go from 32 to 35 were about to load any Blaugrana option. First he conceded an absurd free kick that ended in a corner that Yaremchuk finished off before the passivity of the Frenchman forcing Ter Stegen to save the goal with his foot. On the next play, the Frenchman was again distracted from the mark and allowed Joao Mário to give a ball to Otamendi that nailed him into the squad. Fortunately for Barça, the assistant had decreed that in a corner kick, the ball had left the field in his parable.

Barça seemed to have lost the north after these actions of Benfica, but could go to rest threatening and recovering a bit of self-esteem after Demir will send a shot to the crossbar.

The second part began with many inaccuracies on the part of both sides and with players, as it was the case of Demir, whom the party already threatened to run over. The outcome of the game would depend on the movements made by both technicians. Jorge Jesús was the first to make a move, he introduced the fearsome Darwin, but in return he withdrew Joao Mário’s brain.

At 20 minutes and with the alarms already in orange, Xavi decided to gamble and take Dembélé for a melted Demir. The Frenchman, a habitual suspect in the stands, was received as the seventh cavalry by a dedicated crowd.

Dembélé’s first rides encouraged the Camp Nou, but they alerted Jorge Jesus, who modified his drawing and arranged a double marking to the French winger.

With Barça launched in search of the saving goal and the Camp Nou pushing all the runs of Ousmane, Araújo, the other symbol of the Blaugrana insistence, holed the ball into the Lisbon goal … but offside. The Uruguayan, to make matters worse, ended up injured in that action and missed the last minutes.

With both teams living on the edge, the game died after Benfica squandered the opportunity to sentence Barça, who must seek the miracle in Munich to remain in the Champions League.