Barcelona's Raphinha involved in post-match incident after responding to insults
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Barcelona hero Raphinha was central to a post-match scuffle with Benfica players following the Spanish side's thrilling 5-4 win - with police forced to intervene to calm down the tunnel bust-up. The Catalan's frontman, who previously played at Benfica's cross city rivals Sporting Lisbon, came up with a 95th minute strike to win a nine-goal thriller in the Champions League. However after the celebrations there were some unsavoury scenes.
Players from Barcelona and Benfica clashed in the tunnel as they headed back to the dressing room, with Raphinha finding himself in the thick of it. According to Portuguese outlet A Bola, police were forced to intervene as both sets of players clashed in the tunnel at Estadio da Luz.
It has been claimed that the situation got heated outside Barcelona's dressing room, after Benfica were left furious to allow Raphinha's 96th-minute winner after they had been denied a penalty in the build up. After the incident, Raphinha admitted, having been subjected to abuse, that he gave it back, which saw tempers flare.
He told reporters: "I'm someone who respects everyone. When I was leaving the pitch, people were insulting me. I returned the insults. I know I shouldn't. It got heated with the Benfica players ... they preferred to insult me. "I'm someone who doesn't let anything lie. I respect them if they respect me, but I don't shut up if they insult me. It's normal after an ending like that to a match.".
Raphinha ultimately had the last laugh and believes he's in the best form of his career after scoring a brace in Barcelona's win, which left them second in the standings, owing to six successive wins in the Champions League as they booked their place straight into the round of 16.
