Picture Credit: Twitter
The UEFA Champions League action returned last evening and it was nothing short of any action. Cristiano Ronaldo hogged the limelight once again as he scored another crucial goal for Manchester United to take them through to the Round of 16. Robert Lewandowski chipped in with the goal of the week as he produced a spectacular bicycle kick in snowy conditions in Ukraine.
Amid all the heroics happening in various matches, there was also a moment of shock when fans witnessed an unbelievable sequence of events. In a crucial Group E game between Barcelona and Benfica at Camp Nou, the home side were left frustrated as they were desperate to score a goal but failed to find the back of the net.
Seferovic squanders an easy opportunity to win game for Benfica
In the pursuit of a goal, the Barca players pushed themselves forward and were looking to build an attack with only a few seconds remaining to the full-time whistle. However, the Benfica defenders cleared the ball and a counter-attack was on. After finding himself in a lot of space, Darwin Nunez ran towards the goal and found Haris Seferovic with a brilliant pass.
The Benfica striker was through and as Marc-Andre ter Stegen tried to come off his line to stop him, Seferovic very smartly lobbed the ball over the Barca keeper. He only had to put the ball into the back of the net and Benfica were just a moment away from winning a historic game, which would have taken them inches closer to securing a Round of 16 berth. But unfortunately, the effort by the 29-year-old surprisingly hit the ball wide off the goal leaving everyone in shock.
Watch the video here:
I've never seen anything like that in my life: Jorge Jesus
Benfica's coach Jorge Jesus was expectedly in agony as he was captured sitting on his knees in disbelief. "I've been a coach for 30 years and I've never seen anything like that in my life, but unfortunately it happened to me and Benfica," he said after the match while talking to Eleven Sports.
Jorge added, "I want to congratulate the team for their defensive organization. We left here with a result that still leaves us dreaming but we are not dependent on our results. I keep saying the same thing; Barcelona are one of the best teams in the world and we are competing for qualification with them. This should make the fans, players and coach proud - today we were at the level of a great team."
Notably, the match ended in a 0-0 draw with Barcelona on 7 points and Benfica on 5 points, ahead of the final matchday. It must be noted that both the sides still have a chance to go ahead as a win for Barca against Bayern Munich would take them through but a loss for them and a win for Benfica would assure them a spot in Round of 16. With so much at stake, things are indeed going down the wire courtesy of Seferovic's horror miss at Camp Nou.