Ex-Premier League boss fumes at his own players on pitch after nine-goal Barcelona drama
Share:
Bruno Lage let rip at his Benfica players on the pitch at full-time as they were undone by Barcelona in the last minute. The Spanish side completed a sensational late comeback with Raphinha scoring the winner in rain-soaked Lisbon. The former Leeds man finished off a counter attack in the 95th minute as Barcelona scored three times in 18 minutes to turn the game on its head.
The Portuguese side had been in control for much of the contest and led 3-1 and then 4-2 at the Estadio da Luz, but they still couldn't convert those leads into the three points. Lage, previously in charge at Wolves, laid his emotions bare as he lamented his players on the pitch. Rather than conduct the post-match debrief in the changing room, he instead chose to hammer his players on the pitch as he cut an animated figure in the rain.
Vangelis Pavlidis scored a hat-trick to put Benfica in command of the contest, but Robert Lewandowski's penalty on 78 minutes gave the Catalans some hope. Eric Garcia then levelled the game as he headed home with four minutes of the 90 to play. Benfica found themselves on the attack in stoppage time and saw penalty appeals waved away before Barcelona cleared, finding Raphinha, who went on a one-man mission to seal the three points for the La Liga side.
