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Barcelona's fine run in the Champions League continued at the expense of Benfica, with the Spanish giants winning 5-4 in dramatic fashion.
To describe the game as chaotic would be an understatement. There were four goals inside the opening 30 minutes, three of them going in favour of the home side.
Just two minutes in, Vangelis Pavlidis turned the ball home superbly after being picked out by an excellent Alvaro Carreras cross. The former Manchester United man's energetic run and assist set the tone for the match, but Barca hit back almost instantly.
Tomas Araujo was penalised for a foul on Alejandro Balde in the penalty box and veteran striker Robert Lewandowski cooly converted, levelling the score at 1-1.
In the aftermath of the penalty, the visitors dominated and looked like they may to complete control of the game, but it ended up being the complete opposite. A calamitous error from Wojciech Szczesny led to Benfica retaking the lead. The Polish goalkeeper rushed out from his box to try and intercept a ball in behind the Barca defence, but he completely missed the ball, booting his team-mate Balde instead and leaving Pavlidis to tap into an empty net.
As if things were not already bad for Barca, they conceded a third eight minutes later. This time Benfica were awarded a penalty after Szczesny made a mess of things again, taking out Kerem Akturkoglu. Pavlidis stepped up and secured his hat-trick, leaving Hansi Flick's men with a mountain to climb.
The second half did not ease off. At 3-1 down, Benfica were happy for the visitors to control possession, but they did not anticipate their second goal happening in the way that it did.
Anatolii Turbin, with what looked like a routine kick out from his own box, flew into the face of Raphinha and back into the net, making it 3-2. And just as Barca had got themselves back into the game, it was taken away from them again. Ronald Araujo turned a cross in for an own goal, putting control back in the hands of his opponent.
Flick's side were handed a penalty after Lamine Yamal was taken down with fifteen minutes to go and Lewandowski converted his second of the night.
Four minutes from time, substitute Eric Garcia broke Benfica hearts with an equaliser, heading home from close range, still with a few minutes left on the clock.
It seemed inevitable at that point that Barca would find a winner, and they did. After being denied a penalty, the hosts had a lack of bodies back and Raphinha was released into opposition territory. The Brazilian forward cut inside on his left foot before finishing cooly and rounding off a Champions League classic.
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