Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has described his side’s 5-4 win over Benfica in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night as a “crazy game”, Afrosport reports.
The Blaugrana were down 4-2 after 68 minutes but were able to mastermind a comeback thanks to a Robert Lewandowski penalty, a goal from Eric Garcia, and an added-time strike by Raphinha.
The victory ensured Barcelona’s automatic qualification into the round of 16 and Flick praised his players for the mentality displayed in the comeback win.
“It was a crazy, crazy game. So, I think Benfica did really well in the first half, especially in the first half, but we also make a lot of mistakes,” the German said.
“We didn’t defend very good. And yeah, of course the result in the first half was 3-1 against us and in the half time we said, okay, we want to change something, we need better positioning. And also, we said, okay, we want to come back.
“We want to come back. And this is the best thing, especially the second half, the mentality of the team, how they always believe in themselves. And this is good to see. And it’s unbelievable, you know. I was very happy with one point but at the end with the three of course it’s much better and it was great.”
4+ – Barcelona are the second team to win a Champions League match despite conceding 4+ goals, being this the first time they have won a Champions League match they were losing by two goals.
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Meanwhile, Benfica boss Bruno Lage was frustrated by the result but pleased with the performance of his players.
“The defeat leaves us completely frustrated, yet satisfied with the work of the players and an enormous pride to feel during the game all the fans supporting the team, who pushed us for a very good performance,” the Portuguese explained.
“I am very sorry for the result, but now it’s about doing what we did 15 days ago when we lost fairly to Braga. Today, was not (fair) in my opinion, but we have to look ahead. That’s what said to the players already on the pitch and in the dressing room to look ahead.”
Barcelona will host Atalanta in their final league phase game next Wednesday while Benfica will play Juventus away from home.
