Benfica Vs Barcelona: Blaugrana Destroyed

JAKARTA - Barcelona were crushed at home to Benfica in the Champions League Group E match at the Estadio Da Luz, Portugal on Thursday morning. Ronald Koeman's troops lost 0-3.

Launching Antara, Darwin Nunez scored two goals for Benfica, while the other goal was contributed by Rafa Silva.

Barcelona's catastrophe began to appear when they conceded a goal when the game had only been running for three minutes. Darwin Nunez picked up Julian Weigl's pass down the left before cutting inside and past Eric Garcia and slotting the ball into the near post. The score became 1-0.

❤️⚪ Benfica!#SLFBCB #UCL #EPluribusUnum pic.twitter.com/wUNtt4zizY

— SL Benfica (@SLBenfica) September 29, 2021

Five minutes later, Benfica came close to scoring again through Roman Yaremchuk's strike after picking up a pass behind the Barcelona defence. Unfortunately, the ball can still be anticipated by goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

In the 10th minute, Barcelona created a chance through Frenkie de Jong's movement from the right and sent a pass to Luuk de Jong in the middle. However, Luuk's kick can still be blocked by the opponent's defender.

Barcelona continued to press and threaten in the 27th minute. Memphis Depay's strike met Frenkie de Jong's pass which was blocked by a Benfica defender for a corner.

From that corner, Depay sent the ball into the middle and was struck by De Jong. However, the ball again hit the home players.

Barcelona again threatened in the 29th minute. Frenkie de Jong's header was met by Luuk de Jong's shot in the middle of the box, but his effort went wide

Coach Ronald Koeman made a substitution in the 33rd minute, pulling off Gerard Pique and bringing in Gavi to make Barcelona move the ball more smoothly and they control possession better.

Even so, the Blaugrana have difficulty creating a meaningful threat to Benfica's goal. Until the first half was over, no additional goals were created.

Benfica beat Barcelona for the first time since 1961 #UCL pic.twitter.com/lbedNfPXTN

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) September 29, 2021

Benfica relied on a quick counter-attack in the second half. Darwin Nunez faced only one on one with Ter Stegen in the 50th minute. Unfortunately, his shot was wide to the right of the goal.

Benfica almost doubled their lead two minutes later. Ter Stegen came out of his box to clear the ball, but still lost quickly to Nunez.

Nunez then got past Ter Stegen before directing the ball into an empty net. However, still hit the post and went off the field

Benfica doubled their lead in the 69th minute. Joao Mario played a one-two with Yaremchuk and finished with a shot. Ter Stegen was able to block it, but the ball vomit was struck by Rafa Silva into the goal. Score 2-0 to the hosts.

In the 77th minute, Barcelona were awarded a penalty after VAR and the referee ruled Sergino Dest for handball. Darwin Nunez stepped up as the executor and managed to outwit Ter Stegen with a shot to the bottom right. The position is 3-0.

Eric Garcia completed Barcelona's misery after receiving a second yellow card for violating Goncalo Ramos in the 87th minute.

Benfica's advantage did not change until the game was over.

With this result, Barcelona sit at the bottom of Group E without a single point from two matches. Meanwhile, Benfica have collected four points and are runners-up to Bayern Munich.

Lineup:

Benfica (3-4-3): Odisseas Vlachodimos; Lucas Verissimo, Nicolas Otamendi, Jan Vertonghen; Valentino Lazaro (Gilberto 45'), Julian Weigl, Joao Mario, Alejandro Grimaldo (Andre Almeida 75'); Rafa (Pizzi 86'), Roman Yaremchuk (Adel Taarabt 75'), Darwin Nunez (Goncalo Ramos 86')

Barcelona (3-4-1-2): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Eric Garcia, Gerard Pique (Gavi 33'), Ronald Araujo, Sergino Dest; Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets (Nico Gonzalez 68')), Pedri (Philippe Coutinho 68'); Sergi Roberto (Oscar Mingueza 89'), Luuk de Jong (Ansu Fati 68'), Memphis Depay