🌐🌐Benfica vs Barcelona descends into chaos as players fight in the tunnel with ‘police having to intervene’

Barcelona defeated Benfica 5-4 in a Champions League classic at the Estadio du Luz – but the match ended in major controversy that reportedly continued into the tunnel.

In a chaotic evening in Lisbon that saw Benfica forward Vangelis Pavlidis net a hat-trick, Barca winger Raphinha score a freak goal and the second half and two penalties awarded, it was Raphinha who scored with almost the last kick of the game to win the match for Hansi Flick’s side.

Barca had earlier come back from 4-2 to level the scores, but their chances of winning appeared to have ended when Frenkie de Jong was adjudged to have fouled Alvaro Carreras.

But the visitors managed to clear and found Raphinha, who charged forward before cutting inside and slotting the ball beyond goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.

There was major controversy, however, as Benfica players and fans felt Leandro Barreiro had been pushed by a Barcelona defender inside the penalty area.

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Football on TNT Sports

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OH MY WORD, RAPHINHA WINS IT FOR BARCELONA 🤯

Against all odds, it’s 5-4! What a turnaround!

📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK

10:58 PM · Jan 21, 2025

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VAR checked for a potential penalty but decided not to take any action, leaving the hosts incensed.

Substitute Arthur Cabral – who hadn’t even come off the bench – was sent off by the referee for his reaction to the decision, before the official was then confronted by Benfica boss Bruno Lage.

But that was not all.

According to Movistar, a fight broke out between both sets of players in the tunnel after the match, with on-site police having to intervene.

It is claimed that they had to break Raphinha apart from the Benfica players, though the exact nature of the altercation is not yet clear.

Benfica players react after losing to Barcelona (Image: Getty)

Benfica players react after losing to Barcelona (Image: Getty)

After the chaos subsides, Barcelona will look back on an evening which saw them secure automatic qualification for the Champions League knockout stage.

They sit second in the group stage with 18 points to their name and the highest goal difference in the competition – though their goals conceded column took a significant hit in Lisbon.

Benfica, meanwhile, are in 18th place but could slip further down the table depending on results from Wednesday’s fixtures.

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Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: Benfica, Barcelona, Champions League

Ryan Smart

Ryan Smart

Barcelona score freak ‘once in a lifetime’ goal against Benfica and fans have never seen anything like it

Updated 22:05 21 Jan 2025 GMT

Published 21:37 21 Jan 2025 GMT

Barcelona score freak ‘once in a lifetime’ goal against Benfica and fans have never seen anything like it

Fans could not believe what they were seeing as they watched the Champions League tie.

Luke Alfred Davies

Luke Alfred Davies

Barcelona’s Raphinha scored one of the strangest goals you will ever see in the club’s Champions League tie against Benfica on Tuesday evening.

Raphinha, 28, scored Barca’s second goal of the evening to reduce the deficit to 3-2 at the Estadio da Luz.

Earlier in the game, Wojciech Szczęsny gifted the home side a goal after a comical error. The Polish ‘keeper had a nightmare when he tried to clear a lofted through ball by Benfica defender Nicolas Otamendi.

However, Barcelona’s Alex Balde got to the ball first before he was wiped out by Szczesny before the loose ball fell to Vangelis Pavlidis who tapped into the vacant net.

And just when you thought things could not get any stranger, on 64 minutes Benfica’s ‘keeper came up with an error of his own when he received the ball in the penalty area.

Like most goalies do, Anatoliy Trubin controlled the ball before launching clear while under pressure from Robert Lewandowski.