Champions League review: chaos in Lisbon and players in shop window
Share:
Barcelona and Benfica produced a classic that swung from the sublime to the ridiculous. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of action. Barcelona. This week produced an all-time classic; less football match than theatre of the absurd. Somehow, Barcelona triumphed 5-4 in Lisbon. Raphinha was the two-goal hero, including a counter-attacking winner to break the hearts of Benfica, who had wanted a penalty at the other end. Raphinha’s first – which cut Benfica’s lead to 3-2 – was close to unique. Anatoliy Trubin, the Benfica goalkeeper, somehow smashed his clearance off the Brazilian’s head and into the Benfica net. Robert Lewandowski, meanwhile, scored two penalties, meaning he is joint top with Cristiano Ronaldo for most successful spot-kicks (19) in Champions League history. Barça’s improbable win also spared the blushes of Wojciech Szczęsny. The Polish keeper, who came out of retirement on the Costa del Sol to answer Barça’s call, gifted Benfica two goals, first clattering into Alejandro Balde for the first then blundering to concede a penalty that allowed Vangelis Pavlidis to complete his hat-trick in the 30th minute. Szczęsny had his moment of redemption with a late save at 4-4 from Ángel Di María before a mad match reached its almost unbelievable conclusion. “A crazy game,” said Hansi Flick, Barcelona’s coach. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a comeback like this.”.
![[Nuri Sahin’s reign in Dortmund came to an end.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c0dc5c386e790674d51e117f97d2e131114893d0/0_35_5000_2999/master/5000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Atlético Madrid. Diego Simeone’s Atlético pulled off a victory over Bayer Leverkusen that may well define his 15 years in charge at the club. His team were playing badly, and Pablo Barrios had been red-carded for a high tackle on Nordi Mukiele. Then, Piero Hincapié climbed high for a header to grab Leverkusen a half-time lead. Here’s where Atlético did what they so often do under Simeone. They battled back through Julián Alvarez’s goal; the summer signing has saved his best for this competition. Then began the provocation, the temptation for a Leverkusen player to lose his head. And it was Giuliano Simeone, the manager’s son, who got the job done, tempting Hincapié into a second yellow, to level out the numbers. Then came the drive for a winner, and Alvarez got it, sending Simeone on a trademark celebratory run down the touchline. “It’s a game that will be remembered by the people that saw it,” Simeone said, though the manner of victory was terribly familiar.
![[Luuk de Jong rolled back the years for PSV.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/a5a29b249c1e7eb02771b86b1e9437a956bf2a49/0_299_5472_3283/master/5472.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
