Historic victory for Benfica in the first half hour with three goals, one more disallowed and a penalty that they missed
Benfica made up their performance in a second half where their fans made fools of themselves by throwing flares
Exhibition, shaking, bathing, soccer ‘masterclass’ and countless qualifiers that would take us longer to search for than it took Real to beat a champion of Europe and Portugal like Benfica. It seemed like a match of professionals against cadets in a magical, historic half hour, one of those rarely seen in the world of football. They scored three goals, disallowed another and missed a penalty in what could have been an unprecedented ‘txuri-urdin’ handball in 30 minutes. Benfica made up the performance in the second half (3-1).
And the goal came before the game for Imanol’s team, who took the lead at the Reale Arena with Mikel Merino’s first goal of the season. He did it with a header and with suspense since the VAR was reviewing a possible infraction prior to 1-0. With almost no time for the Portuguese to react, Oyarzabal was already celebrating the second. He did it after a beautiful pressure from Real Sociedad, a chain of errors from Benfica with Florentino making a back pass towards no one, with Otamendia reacting late and with Mikel who has already rediscovered the goal.
It was only the 10th minute and Real Sociedad already won 2-0 and continued with the party. Mikel Merino put his second on the private account but A slight touch with the hand on an unimportant rebound caused the VAR to annul the goal. That’s the norm but it didn’t matter either. Merino himself assisted Barrenetxea in the third so that, after a cut inside, he unleashed a whip on the unstoppable squad. San Sebastián was the capital of football at that time.
The madness did not stop and the exhibition could have been even greater with a penalty in favor of Imanol’s team. Oyarzabal was knocked down inside the area by Otamendi (what a first half hour for the Argentine) after a roulette from Real’s ’10’. He gave the maximum penalty to Brais Méndez who missed a historic opportunity to become the first Spaniard to score in his first four Champions League games. He sent the ball to the post.
It was perhaps then that Benfica said enough was enough. And thank goodness. The Portuguese entered the game and stopped Real’s game bleeding. Of course, without fazing Remiro. At least in the first half because in the second they came out with a different face. At the first change. Rafa Silva closed the gap at the Reale Arena and reactivated the match. It’s the Champions League, it couldn’t be so simple.
The match got heated on the pitch and in the stands with Benfica fans throwing flares in an embarrassing image. Even Anthony Taylor stopped the match. Added to that was Mikel Oyarzabal’s injury and it seemed that the problems were accumulating. There was also a small emergency in the stands with a fan and the reality is that the atmosphere was tense. More attentive to what was happening in the stands than on the field of play.
With this victory, Real has 10 points and is looking for a place in the round of 16 that can be confirmed tonight if Salzburg does not beat Inter Milan. Benfica is already eliminated.