In what is arguably the best match of the Champions League group stage so far, FC Barcelona staged an incredible comeback to beat Benfica in Lisbon, winning 5-4 and ensuring thus his place in the round of 16.
Benfica led at halftime 3-1, thanks to a remarkable hat-trick from Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis, who scored in the 2nd, 22nd and 30th minutes, the latter a penalty. Barça’s only goal in the first half was scored by Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, who converted a penalty in the 14th minute.
In the second half, Raphinha reduced the deficit to 4-2 in the 64th minute. However, drama struck for the visitors in the 68th minute when Robert Araujo scored an own goal, putting Benfica up 4-2. However, the Catalan club responded with Lewandowski scoring another penalty in the 78th minute, followed by Éric García scoring in the 87th, before Raphinha sealed the win with a clinical finish on a counter-attack in the 96th minute in added time.
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-Other key results from the evening include: Atalanta (ITA) 5 Sturm Graz (AUT) 0; Monaco (FRA) 1 Aston Villa (ENG) 0; Atlético Madrid (ESP) 2 Bayer Leverkusen (GER) 1; Club Brugge (BEL) 0 Juventus (ITA) 0; Bologna (ITA) 2 Borussia Dortmund (GER) 1; Red Star Belgrade (SER) 2 PSV Eindhoven (PB) 3; Liverpool (ENG) 2 Lille (FRA) 1; Slovan Bratislava (SVK) 1 Stuttgart (GER) 3.
With these results, the standings see Liverpool on top with 21 points, followed by FC Barcelona with 18 points, Atlético Madrid with 15 points and Atalanta with 14 points, all vying for a place in the knockout stage.
Teams already eliminated include Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) with 8 points, PSG (FRA) with 7 points, and several others without a chance of qualifying.
Meanwhile, the matches scheduled for Wednesday promise to be thrilling with Leipzig taking on Sporting Lisbon at 12:45 p.m., followed by several key clashes including AC Milan v Girona and Arsenal v Dinamo Zagreb at 3:00 p.m.
