Champions League: Bayern Munich 3-0 Leverkusen, Benfica 0-1 Barcelona – live reaction
Key events
Full-time first leg scores from Wednesday
Final score: Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
Nothing like the madness of January’s meeting, but 10 men of Barcelona saw it through. A brilliant goal from Raphina, some fine keeping from Szczesny, and Barcelona will fancy being in the quarter-finals.
Final score: Bayern Munich 3-0 Bayer Leverkusen
It might have been four, Joao Palhinha smashing the bar in the last minute. That’s a first win in seven for Bayern over Bayer. Bayern were the better organised and more muscular but attacked with more quality, Harry Kane starting it all with a fine fine header.
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
They’ve had 32 attempts and have four more minutes to score. That seems under the time they have taken over VAR and the like.
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
Ooof, ball flashes across and Joao Rego, the Benfica sub is beaten to the ball. All Benfica now. Rego attempts an overhead. Then Cabral causes all sort of panic. There’s a penalty check, briefly, but waved away.
By the way, the deadlock has been broken in Paris.
Bayern 3-0 Bayer
Here’s Eric Dier, on for Kim, who survived that early knock and has helped keep Leverkusen so quiet. Goretzka is also off. It’s been a highly successful evening. Into the 90, and there’s six minutes to be added on.
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
Penalty to Benfica? No, the ref rules offside. Belotti went over Sczcesny. It looked a possible penalty but he was offside.
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
Lewandowski and De Jong depart, as Casado and Gerard come on to defend that lead.
Bayern 3-0 Bayer
Off goes Wirtz, and Frimpong, two stars who had a nightmare. Wirtz never got a kick. Schick comes on, a little late to introduce a striker. Garcia comes on with him.
Somehow, this is still 0-0.
Tim Smith gets in touch: “Sorry John, but I cannot see Rudi and that perm without a healthy dose of Frank Rijkaard’s phlegm attached. Two great footballers but to be remembered by that coming together. It’s a funny old game, for sure.”
Kieran McIntosh: “Stadium of Light? If I recall correctly, Sunderland aren’t in this Champions League…are they? (I don’t follow European football. Would love to see a Tyne/Wear side in there though.) .”
Estádio da Luz – where do you think the Mackems got the idea from?
Alan Cunningham: “Thank your for your CL-MBM, but you still have a little to learn about German football. Saying ‚,Offenbach, the Frankfurt team‘‘, would be the direct equivalent of saying ‚‘‘Sunderland, the Newcastle team‘‘,. I hope for your sake there are no Kickers fans watching!”
Yes, I meant the rankfurt Rhein-Mainz area. Some good Offenbach graffiti in Frankfurt, a place I know well.
Goal! Bayern 3-0 Bayer (Kane, 75)
Kane smashes it into the top of the net with just one step and a lash with very little backlift. The tie is surely over.
Penalty for Bayern!
Tapsoba holds Harry Kane, and is caught doing so. Xabi Alonso a sickened man.
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
It’s Barca finding all the spaces now in Lisbon, and happy to hold the ball. Though Aursnes does force a save from Szcesny, who remains rock solid. Not bad for someone who was retired a few months ago.
Bayern 2-0 Bayer
Munich going for the throat. Olise, who has been lively, forces a save from the unfortunate Kpvar.
Benfica 0-1 Barcelona
Two games with ten men, but it’s the Catalans who are showing how to do it, rather than Bayer.
Goal! Benfica 0-1 Barcelona (Raphina, 62)
The man who sank Benfica last time, Raphina, scores a beauty, taking it down, and shooting, barely a half-chance, perhaps taking a deflection but his 25th of the season.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
So far, Barcelona have gone against type and defended well, though there’s plenty of space behind their…..oh.
Red card for Bayer Leverkusen!
A second yellow for Nordi Mukiele, and deservedly so for a raking foul on Coman. Ouch. Xabi Alonso is fuming with his player. Bayern in full control. They’ll want more goals.
Bayern 2-0 Bayer
Talking of goalies, Manuel Neuer has pulled up with what looks a calf problem. On comes Ulreich, the usual reserve goalie? No, the other one, Jonas Urbig, signed from Koln, 21, and looking far younger.
How many goalkeepers do they own?
Nübel, in an unusual situation even for a player taking the field against his parent club. This summer will mark five years since the 28-year-old signed for Bayern. In that time he has played one Bundesliga game for the club (the penultimate game of 2020/21 with the title long since in the bag), spent two years on loan at Monaco and is now in his second campaign of a long-term temporary assignment to Stuttgart. Nübel initially signed for one season with them, but after last season’s wildly successful campaign in which they finished runners-up – ahead of Bayern – all parties agreed to extend the loan to 2026, with the goalkeeper renewing his contract with Bayern to 2029.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Szczesny asked to make a couple of saves as Benfica chase hard for their goal. Nothing doing. The Pole had a mare in the group game but he’s played well on his return to the Stadium of Light.
Goal! Bayern 2-0 Bayer (Musiala, 54)
A gift from the goalie. What a mistake. Kovar drops the ball into the path of Musiala. He pokes in, and that’s a catastrophe.
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Bayern have a plan for Wirtz – and that’s muscle. He looks frustrated as two huge defenders follow him around and stop him playing his game. Harry Kane takes a knock. It looks like a dead leg – very painful but nothing serious. Goretzka is booked for complaining.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
It’s a delayed start after nine minutes added on in the first half. Hansi Flick has a big grin on his face. He needs a 0-0 draw, but then again such results aren’t really in his nature.
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Back underway in Munich, where the great and the good, including Rudi Völler are looking on from the execs. Rudi very much a Leverkusen man, though he started his career at Offenbach, the Frankfurt club.
Still 0-0 in Paris, somehow.
Half-time: Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
It slowed down after a frenetic start, after an amazing triple save from Trubin. The red card was a last-man thing for Cubarsi. There’s almost nine minutes added on, so many stoppages. But it’s epic stuff.
Half-time: Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Harry Kane’s goal separates the teams; Bayern have been the better team and Bayer oddly quiet. Michael Olise showed off his quality in supplying the assist.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Martinez has a knock, Leandro Barreiro, the Luxembourger with the tackle. Martinez is booked for dissent after he complains about the ferocity of that tackle.
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Bayern bludgeoning away, Musiala’s shot deflected behind. Bayer defending deep, though narrow. Olise is lively, he’s really fit in well in Munich.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Pavlidis has a shot blocked. It’s him, Kokcu and Akturkoglu taking it to Barcelona now. But Benfica have still yet to score the goal they want.
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Kane and Xhaka indulge in some Norf London “hold me back, hold me back” after Kane’s tackle by the Swiss player, and a kick after that. There’s a check for a red card…Laimer is booked for getting involved as is Mukiele for doing the same.
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
Michael Olise pressing across the front. Those are the demands at the top clubs. Frimpong escapes down the flank for Leverkusen but there’s nobody in the centre. Kane’s scored but barely been since. That’s his way, these days.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Lamine Yamal has not seen too much of the ball in Lisbon. Kounde despite being a defender goes on the overlap. If any team can hold off the other with 10 men it’s a team that passes the ball like Barca. Raphina has been more to the fore.
Bayern 1-0 Bayer
What can Bayer find? Bayern look as comfortable as they ever have against Leverkusen. Kimmich has a shot from long range.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Olmo is withdrawn as Araujo is brought on to bolster than Barcelona defence. Olmo doesn’t look at all happy.
Benfica 0-0 Barcelona
Fine save by Szczesny, as Kokcu whips the free-kick, and Pavlidis wants the rebound. Benfica are going at this. This is their moment.
And Liverpool escaped that Khvicha Kvaratskhelia goal – he was offside.
Red card for Barcelona!
Pavlidis bursts through, and Cubarsi fouls him outside the box, and he’s taken the man. The claim is he won the ball but he didn’t take much of it. No penalty but a denial of a goalscoring opportunity. VAR back the ref. 70 minutes with 10 men.
