Barcelona have secured a direct place in the Champions League round of 16. The Catalans cannot be out of the top 8 in the standings after they beat Benfica 5:4 away in a spectacle in the rain at the Estadio da Luz.
Hansi Flick's team were trailing 1:3 and 2:4 but managed to claw back the three points. The score after half an hour was 3:1 in favour of the Portuguese side after a hat-trick from Vangelis Pavlidis and a penalty from Robert Lewandowski for the visitors. After the break, Rafinha reduced the deficit for the Blaugranas, but an own goal from Ronald Araujo restored Benfica's two-goal lead. However, everything went wrong for the Portuguese giants in the closing stages. First, Lewandowski was again flawless from the penalty spot, and Eric Garcia made it 4:4 in the 86th minute. Then it came to the most controversial moment of the match. The hosts had claims for a penalty that were not respected by the main referee. A quick pass to Rafinha followed, who escaped offside and then finished coolly to bring Barca an epic victory in a breathtaking thriller. Due to a challenge from the Benfica bench, Arthur Cabral, who did not appear on the pitch, was sent off.
Thus, Barcelona advances to the round of 16, while Benfica is 18th with 10 points and must defend its place in the top 24. In their final matches of the league phase, the Portuguese are away to Juventus, while Barca host Atalanta.
The Catalans will be joined in the knockout stages by Liverpool, who continued their unbeaten run, recording their seventh successive win after a 2:1 victory over Lille. At Anfield, Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott scored for the Reds, with Jonathan David beating Allison between them. The French side, who lost for the first time after 21 consecutive matches without defeat in all competitions, finished the match with 10 men on the pitch after Mandi's second yellow card. Arne Slott's Liverpool need a point in their final match against PSV Eindhoven to secure top spot in the league phase.
In another interesting clash, Atletico Madrid beat Bayer Leverkusen 2:1 at home to move into third place with 15 points. Julian Alvarez scored for the home team in the 90th minute. Both teams remain in good positions for the top 8 ahead of their final matches - Atleti play RB Salzburg away, while Leverkusen host Sparta Prague.
Six teams have already been eliminated and cannot make it to the top 24 - the teams from 9th to 24th place will play a play-off for a place in the 1/8 finals. The eliminated teams are Bologna, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, RB Leipzig, Slovan Bratislava and Young Boys.
All results from Tuesday:
Monaco - Aston Villa 1:0
Atalanta - Sturm Graz 5:0
Atlético Madrid - Bayer Leverkusen 2:1
Benfica - Barcelona 4:5
Bologna - Borussia Dortmund 2:1
Club Brugge - Juventus 0:0
Red Star Belgrade - PSV Eindhoven 2:3
Liverpool - Lille 2:1
Slovan Bratislava - Stuttgart 1:3. | BGNES
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Stefan Ignatov, Sports Department in BGNES News Agency
