Barcelona beat Benfica 1-0 on Wednesday in the Champions League, despite being down to 10 men, to ensure Hansi Flick’s side will head into the return with the advantage.

This game always looked like being a tricky test, as the 5-4 win in the group phase showed us, but Barca played superbly with 10 men and then hit the only goal of the game through Raphinha.

Barcelona’s No. 11 scored the winner back in January when the teams met previously and did it again with a clinical effort from range that was drilled into the far corner.

That’s now nine goals in nine Champions League games from Raphinha, proving he really is the man for the big occasion for Barcelona this season.

Raphinha’s strike for Barcelona took him to 41 goal involvements for the season (all comps) already.

That’s one shy of being double his previous best for a season at a club in the top five leagues (21 in 2023-24). pic.twitter.com/4rgQNTy08x

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) March 5, 2025

“We knew we would have one or two chances and we had to be focused,” he said afterwards. “We were aware that we had to score the chances and we did.”

Raphinha certainly took his chance brilliantly to secure a wonderful result for Flick’s side in Lisbon. The job is only still half done, but Barca have put themselves in a great position to secure a quarter-final spot.

Another Champions League red card

Yet Barcelona had to do it the hard way after seeing Pau Cubarsi shown a straight red card midway through the first half to leave the Catalans with an uphill task in Portugal.

It brought back memories of Ronald Araujo being sent off against PSG last season and will not have pleased Flick who urged his team to cut out the mistakes before kick-off.

“This is the Champions League, we have to play a serious game, have the ball and show our strength,” he told the media. “We have to make fewer mistakes than in the last game against them.”

1- Pau Cubarsí has suffered his first red card for @FCBarcelona in all competitions (65 games). At 18 years and 42 days old, he is the second youngest player to be sent off in #UCL history after Celestine Babayaro in 1994 (16 years and 86 days). Red. pic.twitter.com/ykHJM7R66H

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 5, 2025

But perhaps the experience against PSG actually helped Barca, as the 10 men managed the game well and went on to win through Raphinha’s strike.

Ronald Araujo was sent on in place of Dani Olmo and played a fine game, while Pedri was once again head and shoulders above all the other outfield players on the pitch.

Flick described Pedri as being “at a brutal level” after the match and then took his hat off to his players for their performance.

“In a game like this, lasting 95 minutes, I am very proud and happy with what my team did, it was fantastic. I told the players ‘chapeau’, that I am very proud of them,” he told reporters.

“After being reduced to 10 men in the 22nd minute it was not easy, it is a great victory for us. But we know that we have to play the return leg, Benfica is a good team and we have to be careful.”

Redemption for Szczesny

But the real hero of the night was the one and only Wojciech Szczęsny. The 34-year-old stopper, with a fondness for a cigarette, who came out of retirement to play for Barca last summer and enjoyed a dream night.

Szczęsny made a record eight saves during the match and earned praise from all his team-mates afterwards. “He saved us,” said MVP Pedri after the win, and he wasn’t wrong.

And don’t forget Szczesny was playing at a ground where several weeks ago he conceded four times, including two fairly comical goals, which led to doubts over Flick’s decision to start him over Inaki Pena.

| PLAYER OF THE MATCHWojciech Szczęsny v Benfica: 8 saves 5 saved shots from inside the box✋ 0.92 Goals prevented 2 punches 2/2 successful runs out 9.3 Sofascore Rating

Ten-man Barcelona win 1–0 in Lisbon in large part thanks to this man! … pic.twitter.com/A33BdTv1ly

— Sofascore Football (@SofascoreINT) March 5, 2025

Fast forward a few weeks and that now looks like another brilliant decision by Flick. Indeed it’s no surprise that whispers of a contract extension for the veteran are already swirling.

Flick hailed Szczesny’s “great performance” afterwards, while the goalkeeper simply smiled and insisted his “best game is yet to come” after putting on a Champions League masterclass.