Match Report: Tuesday 28/03/2006 20:45 (GMT+2): Champions League 1st Leg
Benfica Lisbon 0 – FC Barcelona 0
Estadio Da Luz, Lisbon – capacity: 65.000
Referee: Stephen Bennett (England)
FC Barcelona (4-3-3): Váldes – Belletti, Motta, Oleguer, Gio – Van Bommel, Iniesta , Deco (Gabri '75), - Larsson (Giuly'75), Eto'o, Ronaldinho – Manager: Frank Rijkaard
Benfica Lisbon (4-4-2): Moretto - Rocha, Luisao Anderson, Leo - Petit, Manuel Fernandes, Beto - Simao, Geovanni (Karagounis '60), Robert (Miccoli '46) - Manager: Ronald Koeman
It is hard to believe that FC Barcelona failed to score in their exciting goalless draw against Benfica in their Champions League quarter-final first leg last night. But luck was on the side of Benfica! Benfica must have made a pact with the football god because pure luck was on Benfica´s side. FC Barcelona created 10 clear cut chances and only a combination of woodwork, excellent goal keeping and luck came to the aid of a stubborn defending Benfica side that was completely outplayed by FC Barcelona. This leaves Benfica with a small chance of a surprise in next week's return leg at the Camp Nou.
Barca was the better side throughout the 90 minutes and an exciting 0-0 draw, but the Barca players will be disappointed not have decided the quarter final encounter in the first leg in Lisbon already. However, on 5th April in the Camp Nou in front of a 100,000 home crowd they'll get a second chance to confirm their superiority and book a place in the semi-finals.
Everybody expected Benfica to come out and run for their lifes, pushed forward by the hot home crowd to score an early goal, but it was FC Barcelona who were clearly controlling the game. After just six minutes, Ronaldinho forced a double save from Moretto in the Benfica goal. First, a superb free kick “Ronaldinho style” and shortly after with a strong shot deflected by Benfica´s goalkeeper Moretto over the crossbar just in the last moment. Benfica were having great difficulty getting the ball out of their own half as the English referee allowed the game to flow with few interruptions and Barca consistently pressing forward. In the 15th minute, Iniesta broke dangerously through the middle only to shoot very close past the left-hand post. Barca should have gone 1-0 in the lead after 18 minutes when Ronaldinho broke down the left wing and passed wide to Eto'o who squared the ball to Deco near the penalty spot. The Portuguese international missed the open goal by side-footing past the right-hand post.
After the opening 20 minutes, Benfica started to settle into the game but were restricted only to a few, but dangerous long-range shots. Barca had, like usual, a ball possession of 60% in the first half, controlling the match and moving the ball around in midfield. In the 33rd minute, Barca should have taken the lead once again. Van Bommel run from deep within the Barca half all over the field and with only Benfica goalkeeper Moretto to beat, he put his shot too close to the keeper to force him to an excellent save. With two minutes left before the break, Eto'o missed another great chance to put Barca ahead after a genius pass from Ronaldinho's. And with just seconds to go, Benfica´s Moretto tried to clear the ball but missed it completely to give Van Bommel yet another fantastic opportunity. But instead of passing the ball to Larsson who would have been confronted with a completely empty goal, the dutch Barca midfielder shot himself passed the far post. At halftime the result was an incredible and for any Barca fan unbelievable 0-0 but it should have been at least 0-3 up or even more.
In the second half, Italian striker Miccoli came on for Robert and sparked a bit more life into the Benfica team but once again it was Barca who had the clear chances to go ahead with Oleguer shooting the ball wide of the left-hand post from a corner kick. Then, in the 57th minute, Barca incredibly hit both posts in the space of a minute. Barca striker Larsson came clear into the box only to have his shot brilliantly deflected by the Benfica keeper onto his left-hand post. From the resulting corner kick, Motta rose high into the air to head the ball strongly on to the left-hand post.
With two thirds of the match gone, Barca could have been at least four or five goals up. After FC Barcelona missing all these scoring oppotunities Benfica now got a bit more confidence and started to create some chances on their own through Miccoli and Simao. With 15 minutes to go, Gabri and Giuly came on for Deco and Larsson. Benfica continued to threaten the Barca goal and the Portugues supporters tried to push the Benfica team forward. Valdés saved a good opportunity from Simao. As the match drew to a close, the home side pushed hard to get a completely undeserved win. A few freekicks brought some sort of danger but no clear scoring opportunities for Benfica. Before the end, the 60,000 Benfica supporters demanded a penalty but the good english referre Bennett made the correct decision not to award a penalty to Benfica. The shot hit Thiago Motta´s arm in the penalty box but Motta´s arm was clearly going away from the ball and it was impossible for the Barca defender to get the arm out of the way. Barca held on to the 0-0 draw in the final minutes and can now look forward with confidence to the return leg in the Nou Camp.
FC Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard was satisfied with his teams performance despite failing to score from several clear scoring chances. His team was hard working and motivated to decide this UEFA Champions League quarter final already in the first leg but failed to produce a goal. He commented his teams efforts right after the game: "Unfortunately, we have not been able to mark our good performance with a goal, but a draw abroad is a good result. It was a pity not to score because we have had some good chances. In some phases of the game Benfica have also been dangerous and I believe that in general we cannot complain."
The Barca coach added that he was particularly pleased about the performance considering the absence of some key players such as the suspended Barca captain Carles Puyol and the injured Rafael Marquez, Edmilson, Messi and Xabi:"The players made a good impression and, considering the losses, it is necessary to congratulate them."
