"I have Szczesny in my Fantasy team and I think he has given me a good score"

Brazilian striker Raphinha, scorer of the only goal in Barcelona's 1-0 win over Benfica in Lisbon, admitted that his team “knew how to suffer” to take “a good result” home in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.

Raphinha scored the goal in the 61st minute, in a match that Barça played with ten men from the 22nd minute after Pau Cubarsi was sent off. “It's impossible not to be tired, because we had an idea before the game and with the red card, obviously the plans change,” he said in statements to ‘Movistar +’.

“We were able to stay focused throughout the game, we knew we had to suffer to come out with a positive result. And well, I think we did it very well,” he summarized.

He commented that after Cubarsi was sent off, he knew that Barca had to work hard in defence. “We had in our heads that we could have a chance and we had to score. The most important thing is that we got a positive result,” he added.

He also referred to the great game of Wojciech Szczesny, who made eight saves in his best performance as a Barça player. “Szczesny had a great game... I have him in UCL fantasy, I think he made a lot of points for my team today. 

 

March 5, 2025