‘We knew how to defend’

Barcelona were dealt a blow when 18-year-old centre-back Cubarsi was sent off after 22 minutes.

The Spaniard scythed down Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis, who scored a hat-trick in the group match, as he ran through on goal.

Szczesny saved Orkun Kokcu’s drive from the free-kick, with Flick sacrificing Olmo for defender Ronald Araujo to steady the ship.

The Polish goalkeeper, brought out of retirement by Barcelona after Marc-Andre ter Stegen suffered a severe knee injury in September, also made a fine reaction save to keep out Akturkoglu’s header before the break.

Szczesny made another good intervention to keep Pavlidis at bay early in the second half before Raphinha broke the deadlock.

On the right flank after Flick replaced Yamal early in the second half with Ferran Torres, Raphinha stole in to win the ball back high up and wallop a low, deflected effort home from distance.

It was his ninth goal in nine Champions League games, with the forward in the form of his career.

“We had to be focussed, we had in our heads that we could get a chance and if we did, we had to score,” said Raphinha.

Barcelona defended frantically in the final stages as Benfica sought to level and Szczesny came to the fore.

The hosts thought they had won a penalty when Szczesny felled Andrea Belotti, but there was an offside in the build-up and Barcelona survived with their lead intact.

“Today we knew how to defend,” added Pedri.

“Afer the red we knew exactly what to do, stay together at the back, defend as a block and take advantage of our chances with the players we have up front.”

Pavlidis said the Catalans were lucky to escape.

“Barcelona were lucky and scored the goal, we didn’t and it’s a big disappointment,” said the Greek striker.

“Maybe on another day we could have scored three goals… there is a second game and everything is still up for grabs.”