The first final came very soon to Xavi. A life or death match as soon as he landed on the bench was a time bomb and it exploded in Terrassa’s face. Against Espanyol they left doubts, against the Portuguese they were better but it was not enough. The draw does not eliminate him from the Champions League, but almost. They are obliged to beat Bayern in Munich – something that seems impossible today – and that Benfica does not beat Dinamo Kiev in Lisbon – something unlikely today. What is assured is the Europa League if things go wrong on the last day.
Russian Karasev pitted the start of the match and it didn’t take a minute to get the script of the match clear. Intensity was the differential factor that left Benfica without offensive arguments. The Portuguese barely had the ball before the suffocating Barça pressure. Xavi opted to play with three centrals -Araujo, Piqu and Lenglet- with Demir as right-back-inside and Jordi Alba doing the same function on the left. Gavi and Nico made it clear that it will be very difficult to get them out of the eleven by doing, their verticality and vision of the game make a difference. I do not think that the return of Pedri, when it occurs, will harm them and it may be someone else who is injured. As against Espanyol, they did not produce clear chances in the first half hour, but the arrivals were constant.
The inexplicable failure of Benfica that leaves Bara alive: what a mistake by Seferovic!
Gavi had the first chance on a play that touched offside, but his shot went high. Then Jordi Alba had it with a shot that Odysseas cleared with difficulties. Benfica did not pass the midfield until after half an hour, when Bara lowered their pressure a bit, but their only options were to stop balls. Thus came two great scares for Bara in just one minute. The first when Yaremchuk finished off a corner from close up that forced Ter Stegen to show off and, the second, on the back corner that ended in a goal by Otamendi that was annulled by the band assistant that the ball had gone out on its way to the area. Play very protested by the Portuguese. Bara are not intimidated and Demir made it 1-0 with a left-footed shot that hit the crossbar, a play that could have been decisive as it was on the brink of halftime.
Dembl Revolution
The second half did not start as Xavi would have liked. The pressure disappeared and Benfica began to feel comfortable on the field. Jorge Jesus saw it and in the absence of half an hour he moved the bench taking out the Uruguayan Darwin Nez, who was decisive in the 3-0 of the first leg, and Taarabt. The fatigue of the Catalans was evident and the changes were mandatory. And what better for that than the reappearance of Dembl. His departure revolutionized the party as soon as he entered the field and Bara was reborn from his lethargy. A center from the French led to the best Barca chance with a shot from Frenkie de Jong that forced the Greek Odysseas to show off.
All Bara’s missed chances: Demir, Piqu, De Jong’s crossbar …
Benfica reacted to try to contain the Dembl effect and reinforced the left wing giving entry to Valentino. And Jorge Jesus succeeded with the change since the performance of the French was reduced in the last minutes. A kind of center kick that diverted the Portuguese defense to crner, a goal disallowed by Araujo for offside, a gallop by Dembl that saved Otamendi and a header from Piqu were the last attempts by Xavi’s men to try that victory that he needed as eating. Despite the attempts, Benfica kept their door clean and were able to win in the end after a resounding failure by Seferovic. Still they depend on themselves to be in eighths. Barcelona need an impossible in Munich considering that they have only scored two goals in the first five games of the group. Xavi’s hand is beginning to show, but you have to be patient.
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