Barcelona’s shaky defense settled for a draw with Benfica | Football | Kinds of sports

Barcelona always wants more and more. Although not everything works out the way you want. They wanted to shake off the thorn of the total number of wins in the group stage that they failed to achieve last year when they lifted the Championship trophy in the final. But defensive errors and Benfica’s aggressive play – despite the fact that neither of the two already classified were at risk for a place – prevented goals from Jonathan Giraldes, who settled for a desperate draw (4-4). Barcelona’s four goals conceded equals the only four they have scored this season.

They arrived with the calm of a winner, already in the next phase, classified and took first place in group A. Both left a priori with work done. But the eagerness and drive were not long in coming as Graham Hansen opened the scoring with a header, followed a minute later by captain Patri Guijarro thanks to her assist. The high pressure of Filipa Patao’s team – as in the first match, the last one played by Alexia Putellas due to a knock on the knee – took its toll on the defense, which missed Irene Paredes, who dropped out at the last minute with a virus. A series of errors led to a commendable double for Alidu.

Barcelona were poor defensively and another goal from the Norwegian – Hansen has scored 19 goals for the season in three competitions – revived their attacking fire, but Jessica Silva leveled again in the second half. Barcelona haven’t conceded three goals since December 7, 2022. Jonathan Giraldes sat on the bench with his hands on his head. And Bronze looked down after scoring the fourth goal for Benfica to make their comeback official.

Barca gave it their all and battled with their youngest players, with Vicky Lopez, Ari Arias and Martina Fernandez coming on in the final five minutes of normal time. The intensity of the match grew with the need for a goal from Barcelona, ​​which was suffocated in the sea of ​​legs in the opponent’s zone. The reigning European champions were close to their first defeat of the season. But Bronze decided – in good time, albeit late – to atone for his mistakes throughout the game and scored one last desperate goal that leveled the score. With the Spanish Super Cup in his pocket, he continues his path to the other three trophies. The draw for the quarter-finals will take place on February 6 with Barcelona’s three possible candidates: Brann, Häcken and Ajax.

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