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FC Barcelona Completes Champions League Comeback For The Ages To Beat Benfica In Nine-Goal Thriller

FC Barcelona completed a Raphinha-led comeback for the ages by beating Benfica 5-4 in a Champions ... [+] League thriller on Tuesday.

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FC Barcelona beat Benfica 5-4 in a nine-goal Champions League thriller where the Catalans completed a comeback for the ages to stay second in the elite European competition's league phase.

Hansi Flick's men went 1-0 down in under two minutes at the Estadio da Luz, with Vangelis Pavlidis capitalising on slack defending to volley his effort home.

Robert Lewandowski pulled one back with a 13th minute penalty, but the Greek striker on the other side of the ball completed his hat trick in just over half an hour meaning that Barca trailed 3-1 at the interval.

While one of his strikes was perhaps a soft penalty, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has to shoulder the blame for the second brought about by a poorly-judged run out of his box which resulted in him clattering into left back Alejandro Balde and making easy work for Pavlidis.

Around nine minutes after the break, Raphinha scored his first of evening when heading a poor kick by Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin back at him into his net.

Yet when Ronald Araujo scored past his own shotstopper by putting a Benfica cross past the Pole, leaving Barca trailing 4-2 and by a two-goal margin for the second time in the evening, all seemed lost.

The Blaugrana had other ideas, though, and embarked on a remontada for the ages deserving to rub shoulders with the Neymar-inspired comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.

Another Lewandowski spot kick reduced the advantage, before Eric Garcia latched onto a Pedri cross to finally equalize through a bullet header.

Cagey soccer ensued. Yet deep into stoppage time, a Raphinha in form of his life ran with everything he had on a counter attack started by a thunderous clearance from Ferran Torres.

Cooly cutting inside the last Benfica man, he left Trubin helpless and gave his team a victory to remember with an eighth strike in seven UCL outings this term.

Sliding to his knees in relentless torrential rain, the winger was understandably mobbed by his teammates both on the field and off the bench, as the travelling hoards went wild in the away end.

Eliminating the need to contest a playoff, Barca has now automatically qualified for the UCL's knockout phase and will at least finish in the top 8 of the league phase.

It has just one match left to play, against Europea League holders Atalanta, and will tick that fixture off in Montjuic on January 29.

Barcelona Banned Players From Interacting With Famous Fan Group Amid Rising Tension

Barcelona banned players from interacting with famous fan group amid rising tension

In an escalating conflict between FC Barcelona's board, led by Joan Laporta, and the Grada d'animacio, players have been explicitly barred from interacting with this fan group, reports Diario SPORT.

The tension, which has been brewing for some time, reached a new level during the match at Getafe, where players like Gavi and Araujo were dissuaded by security from greeting fans identified with the Grada d'animacio.

Grada d'animació, comprised of four fan groups – Almogàvers, Front 532, Nostra Ensenya, and Supporters Barça – is known for its passionate support and vocal presence at matches.

However, this season, their relationship with the club has soured over a dispute involving financial penalties.

Barcelona have demanded that the group reimburse the club for fines amounting to €21,000 euros incurred due to their behaviour during the previous season, including offensive chants and inappropriate actions.

The relationship between Grada d'animacio and Joan Laporta is not very good right now (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

The fans have refused to pay, leading to their exclusion from games at Montjuic, where Barça have suffered three defeats in the absence of this spirited support.

The prohibition on player interaction with these fans isn't new; it was evident during last season's promotion play-off at Johan Cruyff Stadium, where "Barça, yes; Laporta, no" chants began to echo.

Players from the reserve team were advised not to approach these fans, although greetings did continue from a distance. Now, this policy seems to have extended to the first team.

Readers may also note that earlier in the month, various fan groups openly demanded the exit of Laporta for the way he handled Dani Olmo and Pau Victor's registration woes.

These groups have also constantly pushed for Laporta to issue a vote of confidence, which has further soured the relationship between the club president and these fan groups.

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