The Blaugrana found themselves trailing 4-2 with just 13 minutes of regular time remaining, before Robert Lewandowski scored a second penalty and Eric Garcia equalized in the 86th minute. ..Continue Reading
With almost the final kick of the game, Raphinha clinched the winner for Hansi Flick’s side, slipping past the Barca defense and scoring against Anatoliy Trubin, celebrating ecstatically.
Benfica players were outraged, believing they should have been awarded a penalty just before Raphinha’s decisive goal, after Leandro Barreiro was fouled in the box.
This last-minute victory secured Barca’s automatic qualification for the next round of the Champions League, with 18 points out of a possible 21.
Despite the win, many supporters were dissatisfied and called for a particular player’s removal due to his performance.
Wojciech Szczesny, who came out of retirement to join Barca in October, started as goalkeeper and conceded four goals.
He made a critical error for Benfica’s second goal by misjudging the ball and colliding with his own teammate.
Originally intended to back up Inaki Pena following Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s injury, Szczesny has played four times for the club.
However, numerous Barca fans have grown increasingly frustrated with his performances and are demanding his departure.
On X, one fan said: “Please sell Szczesny, what is he doing there? This is the Champions League. wake up.”
A second said: “Maybe it’s time to sell my Szczesny stocks cos it’s twice now he’s done this
A third added: “They should sell Szczesny and put me in goal.”
A fourth wrote: “It was at this exact moment, Wojciech Szczęsny knew he should have stayed retired.”
But, Szczesny did make a vital save to deny Angel Di Maria and one fan defended him, writing: “I’m not going to blame Szczesny or anyone at all for yesterday’s performance because everybody was making stupid mistakes. Even the Benfica players. Everyone was really nervous I guess.”
Flick also refused to blame his goalkeeper, telling the media: “What player doesn’t make mistakes? We all make them. We win and lose together. I liked what I saw in the second half.”
Barcelona are back in action on Sunday when they host Valencia at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
