Incarnado got into the game very strongly, which paid off: after three minutes Darwin Nunez scored a goal that proved fundamental to what happened in the second half, with two more goals, one of which was scored by Rafa and another Uruguayan forward.
The fact that this goal was scored so early forced Barça to take over the game and show their stronger face, putting Benfica’s defensive organization to the test, but at the same time to an abnormal “ battery drain ”, for which would have to pay the bills. in the second part.
I must say that the best phase of FC Barcelona before half an hour of play – the break began already in the final phase of the first half – could cost the Catalan team two or three goals. if not for the lack of effectiveness he showed by missing out on four sovereign opportunities to change the outcome.
Benfica failed at this point, but it was not only the Catalans’ ineffectiveness in defining the game, but also the consistency of their defensive organization, in which three center-backs stood out, who were a handful and kept the boat in play. in the middle of the storm.
Barça could draw at 8, 10, 27 and 30 minutes, clearly missing out on scoring opportunities, three of which belonged to Luc de Jong (in all cases served by compatriot Frenkie de Jong) and one – Memphis Depay.
Benfica was forced to retreat to defend with five squads because the enemy regularly involved six squads in offensive actions that invaded the incarnate line and appeared in this zone to end the game, many of them cut off at the limit by Lucas Verissimo, Otamendi and Vertongen.
Falling back so hard on the pitch, forcing midfielders João Mario and Weigl to fall, as well as Rafa, Benfica, when they took the ball, was miles from FC Barcelona’s zone and was living in this critical period of counterattacks for the team. The “abandoned” Darwin, who also downloaded a lot, and Yaremchuk, the player who has no counterattack characteristics.
Nonetheless, Benfica had a great second half for two reasons: because Barca lost intensity due to wear and tear in the first half, trying to react to Darwin’s goal, and because they corrected a mistake they made before half. -time.
The team allowed Busquets to take the ball, which was passed to him by the center, in order to distribute the game with the quality with which he does it, without any pressure on him, but in the second half, Rafa or Darwin “ fell ” right on him. him to hinder his actions.
On the other hand, later the team began to defend in the block, João Mariu and Weigl began to press much more aggressively on the player with the ball, not allowing, as happened in the first half, a break-out for the midfielders to hit the back or for two strikers.
As a result, Benfica began to go out with greater frequency and strength in transitions to the offensive, in order to hit the ball more times, and later, manage to injure the Catalan defense, which was repeatedly caught in situations two-two or three-three, and thus threatening the second goal, which should have been scored in the 69th minute.
Darwin’s persistent move on the right flank, followed by a cross into the penalty area, led to a situation of outnumbering Benfica with four players against two for FC Barcelona, which never happened in the first half, and in the second goal, scored by Rafa, using the remaining shot by João Mariu …
From here, Barça literally sorted it out, and the tapes a minute before Coutinho, Ansu Fati and Nico promoted by Ronald Koeman proved useless in trying to shake up the game even before Benfica’s second goal, which he nevertheless continued. to reach third place with a penalty by Darwin Nunez, in which Dest chopped off with a hand a blow to the head of Gilberto, who began to defeat Lazaro on the edge of the break.
With this win today, Benfica moved up to second place in Group E, with four points, two less than leader Bayern Munich, who beat Dynamo Kiev 5-0 at home today, followed by the Ukrainian team with a point, and FC Barcelona “who did not score in the first two rounds.
