From crestfallen, distraught, downcast and angry to victorious, unrepentant and euphoric. From collapsing in Da Luz, a stadium that had been cursed for Barcelona fans, to rising in a huge way. From 3-1 and 4-2 to 4-5. A match with so many surreal overtones that Dalí himself would have painted it. From disaster to an unlikely victory for Hansi Flick who will always have in his mind this Lisbon venue where he was proclaimed European champion with Bayern and where he saw his young Barcelona stage an incredible comeback.
“It was a very crazy game, we had a good mentality, we came back and this is wonderful. This is why we love football the way we love it. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a comeback like that. It has been incredible,” confessed the Barcelona coach.
The reaction that ended in incidents in the locker room tunnel, with Raphinha in the middle of the disturbances between players after scoring the winning goal, the second of his own. “They insulted me from the crowd when I was leaving the field and I returned the insults. The Benfica footballers got heated and also insulted me and I also did the same, if they want me I won’t keep things quiet,” argued the Brazilian. Even the police had to intervene. His analysis of the match was more concise. “It has been spectacular for the fans and for the players,” said Raphinha, chosen as the best player of the match.
“It was a spectacular match for the fans and the players,” says Raphinha
More calmly, Eric Garcia, author of the 4-4 score and who vindicated himself in the middle of the winter market, reflected on the victory. “My role is to try to get the coach to change his mind and take advantage of my opportunities. Happy to help the team in a game that was crazy. “This victory is incredible although we never lost faith,” said the defender, who concluded: “We all want to feel important.”
Meanwhile, Flick lived the game on the verge of a nervous breakdown and celebrated it laughing heartily and oozing happiness. The German spent the meeting ranting and gesticulating. It was not clear to him what his players were doing, error after error, especially the goalkeeper Szczesny, who after half an hour had already conceded three goals, being the total protagonist in two (negative) by bowling with Balde and committing a penalty. “What footballer doesn’t make mistakes. We are a team. We lose together and we win together, until the break we should have played much better but we got caught in the transitions. We were not well positioned on the grass,” said Flick, who did not want to focus the mistakes on the Polish goalkeeper. He had made a controversial decision and preferred to tiptoe through it.
Everything would change later, including a change of system by the German coach, who opted to leave the team with only three defenders. “The changes have helped us a lot to lift the game after a bad first half.”
“Both the public and the Benfica players insulted me and I returned the insults,” says the Brazilian.
In desperation it worked and in a generally irregular game by his players his team once again scored five goals. In three of the last four games he has reached that number. Long live the madness for a Barça capable of anything. In every way.
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