Benfica miss golden opportunity to beat Barcelona right at the death - but a draw leaves the group finely poised
Benfica earned a potentially crucial point at the Camp Nou to keep their Champions League hopes alive heading into the final round of group stage matches.
A 0-0 draw away to Barcelona sees Benfica remain 3rd in the standings, 2 points behind the Spanish giants with one game to go. However, by virtue of their superior head to head record, Benfica know that a win against Dynamo Kiev on the final day will be enough to leapfrog Barcelona should they then fail to defeat Bayern Munich.
Barcelona saw much of the ball throughout the game, dominating possession in their traditional manner under the stewardship of new manager Xavi.
Their passing did not count for much though as Benfica generally reduced their opponents to half chances, Barcelona’s only serious threatening moment coming when they struck the crossbar through a delightful curling effort from Demir.
Indeed, despite the dominance of Barcelona, it was Benfica who had the better first half chances, Yarmechuk first rifling a powerful header down into the ground that was stopped by the leg of Ter Stegen.
And moments later, Benfica thought they had taken the lead through a fantastic long distance strike from Otamendi in off the bar - but the in-swing corner leading up to that stunning effort was adjudged to have gone out of play before finding its man in the box, ensuring the goal was quickly ruled out.
In the second half, it was much of the same, with Barcelona reduced to half chances but seeing most of the ball. The introcution of Dembele did cause Benfica additional problems though, and as the half grew on, Barcelona looked increasingly likely to break the deadlock.
But as the Spanish giants flooded forward in search for a game-winning moment, they left themselves vulnerable at the back - and their overload was clearly on display in the 93rd minute of the game when Benfica suddenly found themselves in a two on one position on the counter.
Darwin Nunez jogged forward from the halfway line, playing the ball to Seferovic, who cleverly dinked the keeper before tapping towards the open net. His effort inexplicably went wide though, causing his manager to fall to his knees in disbelief, and Benfica had to settle for the point.
Benfica still have realistic hopes of reaching the knockout stages though, and also know that they are now at the very least guaranteed to be playing in the Europa League after Christmas, sitting 4 points above their upcoming opponents Dynamo Kiev with just one game to go.
Otamendi. Photo author: Кирилл Венедиктов. License link.
