Neither Vangelis Pavlidis’ hat-trick nor Benfica’s two-goal leads were enough. They started to sink and ended up in the abyss when Raphinha broke away. He carried the ball and finally slotted it into the net for a major comeback – 5-4 and euphoria in the away section. But before all that, there was a controversial moment. Leandro Barreiro was brought down in Barcelona’s penalty area; Fermín López was pulling him, and then Wojciech Szczęsny collided with him. However, no penalty was awarded. Referee Danny Makkelie did not point to the spot but instead allowed play to continue. A counterattack followed, a goal was scored, and the frustration among the home fans and players was immense. Everything escalated in the tunnel.Barca are wreckage, Barca are beast, Barca are crazy, to say the least!Portuguese media are playing coy, claiming they know nothing about the incident, referring to Spanish reports. According to those, Raphinha—the scorer of the winning goal—was involved in a physical altercation with some Benfica players. Police had to intervene. However, Barcelona’s captain did not mention this, only speaking about insults and heated tempers.”I am someone who respects everyone. When I left the field, there were people insulting me. I responded to the insults. I know I shouldn’t do that. We were all heated, Benfica players too… I respect others, but only if they respect me. I won’t stay silent when insulted. After a match like this, it’s normal” Raphinha told Movistar+.Insults were directed at Raphinha and also at the referee trio. The officials stood at the center of Estádio da Luz, exchanging handshakes, as Barcelona players approached them. They were booed as they left the pitch, and Benfica’s coach Bruno Lage shared his thoughts on the officiating during the press conference. According to Benfica’s strategist, the refereeing lacked consistency, with double standards in play.”When you look at how we conceded goals and the final result, there’s frustration. I’ll have to rewatch the match and analyze what happened in the 94th minute… I think it was a major refereeing mistake. In situations like this, referees must apply the same criteria regarding penalties. Look at this – if they awarded a penalty to Barcelona, they should have given us one too. We were upset about it, we asked for a penalty, but instead, we had to stop the game with a foul. We shouldn’t have allowed a Barcelona player to run half the field and score,” said Bruno Lage. Abole writes that Benfica president Rui Costa left the presidential stand to question the refereeing team, in order to ask for justifications for the incident involving Leandro Barreiro in the Barcelona area , after the red midfielder was hit in the head by the left arm of Férmin López.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND 7Wednesday20:45: (2.85) Leipzig (3.70) Sporting (2.45)20:45: (2.70) Shakhtar (3.10) Brest (2.75)23:00: (7.75) Sparta Praha (4.50) Inter (1.42)23:00: (1.12) Arsenal (11.0) Dinamo Zagreb (22.0)23:00: (1.38) Celtic (5.40) Young Boys (8.50)23:00: (6.75) Feyenoord (5.00) Bayern (1.43)23:00: (1.48) Milan (4.65) Girona (7.25)23:00: (2.50) PSG (3.80) Man City (2.75)23:00 (1.08) Real Madrid (14.0) RB Salzburg (30.0)TuesdayMonaco – Aston Villa 1-0 (1-0)/Singo 8/Atalanta – Sturm Graz 5-0 (1-0)/Retegui 12, Pasalic 58, De Ketelaere 63, Lookman 90, Brescianini 90+5/Atletico Madrid – Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 (0-1)/Alvarez 52, 90 – Hincapie 45+1/Benfica – Barcelona 4-5 (3-1)/Pavlidis 2, 22, 30 pen, Araujo 68 og – Lewandowski 13 pen, 78 pen, Raphinha 64, 90+6, Garcia 86/Bologna – Borussia Dortmund 2-1 (0-1)/Dallinga 71, Junior 72 – Guirassy 15 pen/Club Brugge – Juventus 0-0Crvena zvezda – PSV 2-3 (0-3)/Ndiaye 71, Djiga 78 – De Jong 17, Til 23, Flamingo 43/Liverpool – Lille 2-1 (1-0)/Salah 34, Elliot 67 – David 62/Slovan Bratislava – Stuttgart 1-3 (0-2)/Metsoko 85 – Leweling 11,34, Rieder 87/***odds are subject to change***
