Raphinha once again proved to be Barcelona’s hero as they secured a narrow victory over Benfica in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, despite being reduced to 10 men.
The Brazilian took advantage of a defensive error, driving forward to slot the ball into the bottom corner in the 61st minute, marking his 25th goal of the season and his ninth in the Champions League campaign.
Raphinha also rescued Barcelona in January when the two teams faced each other in the league group phase, scoring a dramatic 96th-minute winner in a thrilling match that ended with nine goals.
In this knockout stage encounter, Barcelona had to play with 10 men from the 22nd minute after teenager Pau Cubarsi was sent off for bringing down Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis on the edge of the penalty area, receiving a straight red card as he was the last defender.
The Portuguese hosts believed they had won a penalty in the 82nd minute when Wojciech Szczesny fouled Andrea Belotti; however, the decision was overturned due to an offside in the build-up.
Barcelona held on to secure a slender lead to take back to the Camp Nou for the second leg on Tuesday, March 11 (17:45 GMT).
