What a chase by Barcelona! Nine goals! And everything was decided in the 96th minute

• Barcelona was already losing 1-3 and 2-4 against Benfica Lisbon, but eventually drew 5-4 in the seventh round of the Champions League
• Wojciech Szczęsny was responsible for two goals for Benfica. First, he ran out of the goal unnecessarily, then fouled his opponent in the penalty area. However, he saved Barcelona in the end
• Robert Lewandowski scored the eighth and ninth goals in this edition of the Champions League. Both penalties. The Pole remained the leader of the Champions League scorers' classification
• You can find more interesting stories in Przegląd Sportowy Onet

The match between Benfica and Barcelona was like a thriller full of twists and turns with an unexpected ending. It had everything, and Barcelona was already losing 1:3 and 2:4, but ultimately won 5:4! Unfortunately, Wojciech Szczęsny played the main negative character in this thriller. He played one of the worst – and considering the importance of the match and the circumstances of its meeting – maybe even the worst in his career, although he also had good moments.

The former Polish representative got the chance to make his debut in the Champions League for Barcelona, ​​but he failed twice. First, he went far out of the goal unnecessarily, collided with Alejandro Balde and the opponents had an easy opportunity to score, then he committed a foul in the penalty area when he went out of the goal wrong again.

The Pole failed again in an important match, again due to a bad exit from the goal. It was the same in the final of the Spanish Super Cup against Real, when, with the score at 5-1, he unnecessarily fouled Kylian Mbappe outside the penalty area, for which he received a red card. Thus, Szczęsny did not give any arguments for Hansi Flick to bet on him and not Inaki Pena.

However, the unlikely ending made the Pole's mistakes not so important. They remained runners-up in the Champions League league stage with 18 points in seven games.

Hansi Flick fielded almost the same eleven as in the match against Getafe, when Barcelona disappointed in the league and only drew 1-1. The only change was to replace Szczęsny at the expense of Inaki Pena.

The debut in the Champions League for Barcelona started badly for the Polish goalkeeper. He was beaten by Vangelis Pavlidis already in the second minute, but the Greek shot from close range, but Szczęsny is not responsible for this goal. The worst was yet to come.

In the 11th minute, Tomas Araujo fouled Alejsandro Balde in the penalty area. Referee Danny Makkelie initially did not notice the offense, but thanks to the intervention of VAR, he watched the situation on the monitor and awarded a penalty to Barcelona. Of course, Robert Lewandowski approached the ball and scored the equalizer with a confident shot.

Wojciech Szczęsny's disastrous five minutes

In the 23rd minute, however, Szczęsny's behavior was terrible, he ran far out of the goal and rammed Balde, the Benfica players had no problem with the ball into the empty goal, where Pavlidis hit it. And the Pole and Balde were lying on the pitch and it was not certain whether they would be able to continue playing. The defender got up faster, but the Pole took longer to recover and needed medical help, but he continued playing.

Five minutes later, Szczęsny's nightmare deepened. He made a bad exit again, fouled Karema Gwiazdoglu in the penalty area and the referee gave Benfica a penalty. Pavlidis approached the ball and soon completed his hat-trick.

While it was one of the worst matches in his career for Szczęsny, it was the best for the Greek.

Barcelona was losing 1-3 and had trouble getting back up. She prevailed, but nothing came of it. Lewandowski was hardly visible, cut off from passing. At the end, he went back to get the ball and Raphinhi made a great pass, but he didn't take advantage of the chance.

A disastrous mistake by the Benfica goalkeeper

After the break, Barcelona dominated, but couldn't create chances for a long time. She finally scored a goal, without creating any further goals. Benfica goalkeeper Anatoli Trubin made a fatal mistake, even worse than Szczęsny's. While kicking the ball, he hit the head of Raphina standing outside the penalty area, the ball bounced off her and fell into the net.

Barcelona briefly enjoyed the vision of one goal short of making up for the loss. A moment later, Ronald Araujo beat Szczęsny and put the ball into his own goal. This goal also burdens the Pole to some extent, because there was no good communication with the Uruguayan.

A quarter of an hour before the end, Benfica's players again came to Barcelona's aid. Carreras fouled Lamine Yamala in the penalty area and the referee awarded a penalty. Lewandowski again approached the ball and once again beat Trubin with a confident shot. This is the Pole's ninth goal in this edition of the Champions League, and he remains in the lead in the scorers' classification.

In the 86th minute, after a short corner kick, Pedri received the pass, made a circle with the ball to prepare for the cross, and then made a great pass to Eric Garcia, who scored the equalizer with a header.

At the end, Angel Di Maria, who was only a substitute in this match, escaped Barcelona's defense and could have ensured Benfica's victory. Szczęsny, however, saved Barcelona this time, although it is difficult to say that he redeemed himself.

But that wasn't the end of the emotions. At the end of added time, Benfica players first called for a penalty, Barcelona launched a counterattack and Raphinha scored to make it 5-4. The Benfica camp demanded VAR intervention and a change of decision, but the referee allowed the goal.

In the last round, Barcelona takes on Atalanta. Probably without Szczęsny in goal.