In the first leg, Barcelona had a minimal victory over Benfica. That is a small advantage for the Spanish representative when returning to Camp Nou in the second leg, taking place in the early morning of March 12.
Playing in front of their home crowd, Barcelona played confidently and opened the scoring in the 11th minute. From a cross from Lamine Yamal, Raphinha had a beautiful volley without anyone to mark him. But just 2 minutes later, from a corner kick, Otamendi headed the ball over goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to equalize 1-1.
In the 27th minute, young talent Yamal turned the ball and finished with a difficult trajectory, restoring the lead to Barcelona. He became the youngest player in Champions League history to both score and assist in a match, at the age of 17 years and 241 days.
Before the end of the first half, Raphinha increased the score to 3-1 after a smooth counter-attack. This was his 11th goal in the Champions League this season, temporarily leading the list of top scorers.
In the second half, the home team completely controlled the game. Fredrik Aursnes put the ball into Benfica's net but the goal was canceled due to an offside error. Lewandowski and Frenkie de Jong both had more opportunities to score, but could not take advantage.
However, a 3-1 victory was enough to take Barcelona to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Their next opponents are Lille or Borussia Dortmund.
