- Benfica was controversially denied a penalty in the run-up to Barça's goal
- Hansi Flick's team recovered from a 4-2 deficit to win 5-4 at the Estadio da Luz
- LISTEN NOW: It's all starting! Ruben Amorim seems desperate… it is the last resort to publicly denounce your players
Police responded to an explosion in a tunnel outside Barcelona's dressing room after the LaLiga team's controversial and dramatic late victory over Benfica, reports in Spain claim.
Scorers Raphinha and Eric Garcia were involved in the altercation, according to a report, while Benfica president Rui Costa emerged from his post to question the refereeing team after the final whistle.
The home team were outraged by the decision to award the winning goal to Raphinha in the 96th minute, after they had been denied a penalty in the build-up to the dramatic goal. Substitute Arthur Cabral received a straight red card from the bench, while Benfica players surrounded Dutch referee Danny Makkelie to passionately protest the decision.
According to the Portuguese ball exitTempers continued to flare as both groups of players advanced through the Estadio da Luz tunnel, and law enforcement had to stop the altercation.
Match winner Raphinha, whose late goal completed a stunning comeback from 4-2 down and secured Barcelona's place in the Champions League last 16, attacked the Benfica players and claimed he had been insulted.
“They insulted me at the end of the game and I insulted them back,” Raphinha said.
Benfica players surrounded referee Danny Makkelie following his decision to award Raphinha's late goal
The president of Benfica, Rui Costa, would have left his position to go and question the referee team about the decision.
Raphinha's goal in the 96th minute put Barcelona into the round of 16 of the Champions League
'If they respect me, I respect them. In my opinion they could have understood the situation, but they preferred to insult me.'
Tuesday night's crazy match went up in flames just minutes later when Vangelis Pavlidis fired home from close range.
Robert Lewandowski equalized from the spot 10 minutes later before two howlers from Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny gave Benfica a two-goal lead.
Szczesny, who came out of retirement to solve Barcelona's injury crisis, ran out of the goal and collided with teammate Balde.
Pavlidis was on hand to guide the ball into the empty goal and put Benfica up 2-1.
The striker completed a first-half hat-trick from the penalty spot after Szczesny fouled Kerem Akturkoglu in the area.
Barcelona received a lifeline in the second half thanks to another error by the goalkeeper.
Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin cleared the ball directly at Raphinha's head, and the ball bounced strangely into the net in the 64th minute.
The Brazilian alleged that he was insulted by Benfica players after scoring the winning goal
Benfica coach Bruno Lage was seen after the final whistle offering vocal criticism to his players
The chaos continued when Benfica restored their two-goal lead four minutes later.
A cross from Andreas Schjelderup was deflected into his own goal by Ronald Araujo and left Barcelona with the prospect of defeat.
Barcelona set up a grandstand finish when Lewandowski converted his second penalty into the net, and the referee dismissed Benfica's protests by awarding the penalty.
The Catalan giants equalized in the 86th minute with Eric Garcia rising highest to place a header into the Benfica net.
A dramatic finish followed as Benfica appealed in vain for a second penalty that night, only for Barcelona to break clear and score the winning goal through Raphinha.
Benfica coach Bruno Lage was seen after the final whistle offering vocal criticism to his players after holding a two-goal lead twice in the match, only to lose.
'Enormous frustration with the result. “A great pride in the performance and the support of the Benfica family from start to finish,” said Lage after the match.
'We have to get up. “We have to look forward, learn from the result, from the last minutes of the game.”
