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FULL TIME: Barcelona 3-1 Benfica (agg 4-1)
Barcelona advance elegantly, serenely into the quarter finals!
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90 min +1: This complete half has been a masterclass in clock administration by Barcelona. Not a joule of vitality needlessly expended. The reward for wrapping issues up so effectively within the first half.
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90 min: There might be two further minutes.
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89 min: A free kick for Barca out on the left. Raphinha caresses it into the mixer. Araújo can’t get any buy on his header on the far submit.
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88 min: Raphinha hits the nook lengthy. Garcia heads down on the far stick however can’t discover a team-mate within the center. Benfica clear their strains.
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87 min: Gavi’s snap-shot from the right-hand nook of the six-yard field is blocked out by Otamendi. Earlier than the ensuing nook could be taken, Eric García comes on for Iñigo Martínez.
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85 min: Amdouni twists his approach down the left to win one other Benfica nook. Barca make a meal of clearing it, and the ball finds Otamandi out on the precise. He dinks a cross throughout the face of aim for Amdouni, whose downward header almost pinballs off Kounde and into the underside left … however shaves the bottom of the submit, Szczęsny lastly put to work. The keeper smothers.
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84 min: João Rego comes on for Tomás Araújo.
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83 min: Aursnes sends a Benfica nook in from the precise. It’s no good. However the ball’s recycled again to Aursnes, resulting in an outbreak of head tennis within the Barca field. However once more there’s no actual hazard to the house aspect. Szczęsny capable of smoke his tab all the best way all the way down to the butt.
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82 min: It’s now 2-2 in double modifications. Marc Casadó and Pau Victor come on for Frenkie de Jong and the record-breaking Lamine Yamal. To repeat: at 17 years and 241 days, Yamal has develop into the youngest participant to offer each a aim and an help in the identical Champions League recreation.
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80 min: Sanchez bursts down the center of the park. He’s bought choices both aspect, however turns them each down, dropping a shoulder a few occasions earlier than hoicking a poor effort excessive over the bar from the sting of the field. On the touchline, an sad Bruno Lage tells it as he sees it.
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78 min: Nope, it’s by no means a penalty. The nook from the left results in one other on the precise, and that one results in nothing. Szczęsny nonetheless swanning round with a fag on.
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77 min: Higher from Benfica, as Amdouni dribbles throughout the face of the Barca field, proper to left, and tees up Dahl, who opens his physique and steers a shot in direction of the right-hand aspect of aim. Martinez slides in to dam. It’s only a nook, however earlier than it may be taken, there’s a fast examine by VAR for a possible penalty.
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76 min: See 55 min.
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74 min: Torres clears the bar within the model of Jonny Wilkinson.
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73 min: Torres’s first act is to get skittled by Otamendi, 30 yards out in a central place. Free kick. Fairly a couple of Barca gamers fancy taking this one.
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71 min: Benfica are at the least main 2-1 in double modifications. Now they change Orkun Kökçü and Florentino with Leandro Barreiro and Andrea Belotti.
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70 min: It’s Barcelona’s flip to make a double change. Gavi and Ferran Torres come on for Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo.
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69 min: Barcelona stroke it round, and the house followers soundtrack the scene with a couple of olés. Any outdated excuse …
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67 min: Pavlidis jigs his approach down the inside-left channel earlier than taking a whack straight at Szczęsny, who has had treasured little to do, apart from dream of tasty fags.
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65 min: Araújo tries to launch Aursnes down the precise. Objective kick. Completely nothing taking place for Benfica up entrance. The identical can’t be mentioned for Barcelona, with Raphinha beginning an assault with a pleasant backflick down the left touchline. The ball’s shuttled throughout the face of the Benfica field to Yamal, who executes one other backflick, releasing Kounde into the field on the precise. A low cross fizzed in. De Jong, sliding in, manages to shank extensive of an open aim from six yards.
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Up to date at 15.22 EDT
63 min: Olmo tries to purchase a free kick by hanging out a leg to make contact with Silva, earlier than falling over within the brazen model. The free kick goes Benfica’s approach, and Olmo’s fortunate not to enter the e book.
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61 min: … so having mentioned that, the hosts instantly sluggish issues down once more. Pulitzer, please!
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59 min: Balde’s flip to eat up floor down the center. He slips a move to Olmo, who one-twos with Yamal alongside the inside-right channel. However the return move is just too sturdy, permitting Trubin to smother at Olmo’s toes. Barcelona starting to undergo the gears once more, in pursuit of that fourth aim.
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57 min: De Jong romps up the center of the park earlier than feeding Raphinha out on the left. Raphinha appears for Olmo with a low cross, however Olmo can’t attain the diagonal ball earlier than it runs out of play to the precise of aim. Only for a second, quantity 4 regarded on the playing cards for Barcelona.
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56 min: Benfica make a double swap. Renato Sanches and Zeki Amdouni come on for Kerem Aktürkoğlu and Andreas Schjelderup.
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55 min: It’s all a bit scrappy and low vitality. If each groups may declare, one suspects they’d proper right here and now.
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Up to date at 15.07 EDT
53 min: Yamal drifts in from the precise and goes for an additional of these flip-curls in direction of the highest left. This a method off course. It’s not as simple as he made the primary one look. One other one to file below: Not Tremendous-Human All The Time.
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52 min: Barcelona have loved 63 p.c of possession tonight, and brought 13 makes an attempt on aim to Benfica’s one. “Lamal seems to have gone the complete Phil Foden with the bespoke wrist wrapping,” observes Tim Smith. “Is that this a brand new damage or am I simply not capable of comprehend the youth of immediately. For what it’s value, Phil seems to have worn his for at the least a 12 months. Cheaper than a tat I suppose?”
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51 min: Yamal almost releases Olmo into yards of house down the center with a tricksy back-flick. Practically, not fairly. The gang appreciated the talent anyway.
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49 min: Raphinha sends an outswinger of a free kick to the far stick. Araújo tries to steer a header house from a good angle, however can solely flap the aspect netting. So almost 4-1 on the night. After which so almost 3-2 as Pavlidis springs clear down the Benfica left and rolls throughout for Aursnes, who slides in and roofs. However Pavlidis was clearly offside.
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48 min: Silva is booked for clipping Raphinha mid-glide. A free kick out on the left flank.
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47 min: So right here’s a stat. At 17 years and 241 days, Lamine Yamal has develop into the youngest participant to offer each a aim and an help in a Champions League recreation. He’s crushed a report set by Breel Embolo (17 years 263 days). Subsequent up: Ansu Fati (17 years 355 days) and Jude Bellingham (18 years 78 days). That’s not dangerous firm to be conserving.
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Benfica get the second half began. No modifications. “It used to really feel like a privilege watching Messi – however with Lamal it’s extra like pure pleasure,” writes Charles Antaki. The place Messi scurried, Lamal lopes; Messi was a closed e book of genius, Lamal has expertise on public view. Additionally he clearly enjoys enjoying, which Messi didn’t all the time appear to. However Messi lasted a superb ten years, possibly extra, on the summit. Let’s see about Lamal, however it appears good already.”
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Half-time postbag. One other e mail! How about that. “I by no means know what to make of Hansi Flick,” begins Kári Tulinius. “On the one hand, he desires his groups to assault relentlessly and depend on high-wire defending when issues, inevitably, go pear formed. However, he has the manner and have an effect on of a barely intense center supervisor at a life insurance coverage agency on costume down Friday. I suppose I like my hell-for-leather attack-minded managers to appear to be they’ve suffered for his or her wild concepts. Zdenek Zeman, the place are you now?”
Any outdated excuse to relive Hans-Dieter’s best second.
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Half-time postbag. It’s teeming over with an e mail. “I hope Wojciech Szczęsny took the time to gentle up a artful fag in appreciation after that frankly outrageous Yamal aim,” writes Justin Kavanagh.
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Half-time commercial. Time to ponder tonight’s huge showdown at Anfield. Yara El-Shaboury has the main points. And sure, this tie is over, however you’ll nonetheless come again for the second half, sure? Please!
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Up to date at 14.40 EDT
HALF TIME: Barcelona 3-1 Benfica (agg 4-1)
Barcelona have been merely sensational. They might simply have had six or seven. That is over, now only a damage-limitation train for Benfica. Except one thing very unusual occurs: Barca scored 4 second-half objectives in Lisbon in January in any case. However let’s be practical, Barca are nearly as good as within the quarter-finals.
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45 min: Otamendi doesn’t know whether or not to argue the toss over the aim, or settle for he’s not within the e book. What a merry puddle.
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44 min: … and Otamendi has his yellow card rescinded. What a fiasco.
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43 min: Some very unusual stuff within the rapid aftermath of the aim. It appears as if the referee’s dominated out the aim, having blown for a foul on Balde, who was clattered by Otamendi whereas making the help. Too whistle completely satisfied? It appears prefer it. Otamendi is booked. However then, maybe due to the intervention of VAR, the referee awards the aim in any case! How odd. However the aim stands, because it ought to.
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Up to date at 14.32 EDT
GOAL! Barcelona 3-1 Benfica (Raphinha 42); agg 4-1
… however it doesn’t matter, as a result of Balde bombs down the centre of the pitch earlier than slipping a move to Raphinha on his left. Raphinha whistles a shot throughout Trubin and into the underside proper. It’s throughout!
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Up to date at 14.34 EDT
41 min: Olmo finds Raphinha on the sting of the Benfica D. Raphinha curls powerfully in direction of the highest left … however it’s all the time heading over. Then moments later, Lewandowski saunters into the field and prepares to shoot from 12 yards. An excessive amount of preparation. He hesitates, is sort of closed down, after which, out of the blue rushed, slaps an uncharacteristically witless effort straight at Trubin. One other enormous likelihood spurned.
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39 min: Olmo slips a move down the precise for Yamal, who is that this near scuttling clear. Schjelderup saves the day with a superb last-ditch deal with. Then a counter, with Pavlidis sprung free down the Benfica left. He opens his physique and pings a superb curling shot throughout Szczęsny and off the junction of crossbar and right-hand submit. Then the flag pops up for offside, appropriately so. It wouldn’t have counted, however maybe that’ll give Benfica slightly succour.
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37 min: That second Barca aim has taken slightly little bit of wind out of the Benfica sail. That they had gone toe to toe with their hosts for the primary quarter of an hour, however now, not a lot.
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35 min: Replays of that Yamal aim … my oh my. He simply pinball-flippered that shot together with his boot. A delicate golf wedge. A crisp flick of a table-tennis bat. Comparisons to different spare time activities can be found. Such magnificence. Raphinha mimed shoe-shining Yamal’s boot throughout the celebration, and as Glenn Hoddle observes on TNT Sports activities, Yamal definitely deserved the buff.
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33 min: Pedri is clipped from behind by Kökçü. It’s a foul, nothing extra. Pedri flashes an imaginary card whereas rubbing his ankle, which is a bit pointless, particularly after a garden-variety problem.
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31 min: Benfica are all around the store on the again. Yamal tries to tee up Lewandowski, 12 yards out. A poor move. He’s solely human, in any case. Barcelona may, and doubtless ought to, be out of sight.
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29 min: Simply as they did upon conceding the primary aim, Benfica win a nook just about instantly from the restart. Schjelderup down the precise this time. Pavlidis swings it in however it’s a simple declare for Szczęsny. No instantaneous on-the-night equaliser this time.
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