Another Champions League match day and unfortunately there's only one Portuguese team to take three points.
Porto went into the game well, using the same starting eleven they used in the derby against Benfica.
Although this Barcelona team is inferior to the Barcelona's we've had in other years, it's always a team that knows how to play and has players of renown.
Porto put Barcelona under pressure and managed to create several dangerous chances, mainly using the speed of Galeno and Pêpe in their attacking transitions.
In the 33rd minute, Lewandoski left the game due to injury and Ferran Torres came on in his place, meaning that instead of having a positional player up front, Barcelona now had a more mobile player with more vertical movement in the back.
Barcelona scored in the 47th minute thanks to a poor pass by Romário Baro that allowed Gündoğan to isolate Ferran Torres, who did not waste the opportunity in front of Diogo Costa.
In the second half, Porto were keen to get back on level terms and soon created dangerous chances near the Barcelona goal.
The Barcelona goalkeeper had a lot of work to do in the second half, but showed he was safe.
In the 92nd minute Barcelona were reduced to 10 players after Gavi was shown a second yellow card.
It's clear that Porto deserved more than they got, but they're still showing that their strikers aren't taking advantage of the situations they create and that's starting to be a problem.
RETURNED!!! WHAT A GREAT WIN FOR SC BRAGA IN GERMANY!!! ⠀
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In this game, we saw a true demonstration of the best and the worst of the SC Braga team!⠀
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Starting with the worst...⠀
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Union Berlin is a very vertical and objective team.
They give their opponents the initiative and then exploit the counter-attack.⠀
They are aggressive in their search for depth and know how to attack the back of the opposition's defense.⠀
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Especially in the first half, SC Braga suffered a lot defensively from Union Berlin's way of playing! It was no coincidence that they found themselves 2-0 down...⠀
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Neither the full-backs, Joe Mendes and Borja, nor the central midfielders, Niakhaté and Serdar, had a happy game... even Al Musrati, playing as a 6 in a 2-man midfield, was totally exposed to Union Berlin's quick transitions.⠀
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Too many losses of the ball, poor tackling and too many flaws in the approach to tackles. ⠀
Union Berlin's goals came from totally avoidable individual mistakes...⠀
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Fortunately it didn't happen, but SC Braga could have conceded a lot more than 2 goals in this game... Sheraldo Becker was always a real nightmare for the Minho defense... ⠀
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As for the attack, it's a different story...⠀
SC Braga have a lot of quality from midfield to the front!⠀
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SC Braga made a good response at the end of the first half, rewarded by Niakhaté's goal, but it was in the second half that the Minhotos showed all their quality!⠀
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Ricardo Horta and Bruma "opened the book" in the 2nd half!⠀
Playing inside, they took up the baton in SC Braga's attack!⠀
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Bruma scored a real goal following a well-worked corner (what calm, quality and coolness of Ricardo Horta's pass)!⠀
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Just when it looked like the game would end in a draw, which given the circumstances of the game would have been a good result for SC Braga, we had a poetic ending...⠀
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Castro, one of the team captains, who had only played 30 minutes, spread over 2 games this season, was the unlikely hero when he scored with a beautiful shot from outside the area!⠀
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Even with so many defensive weaknesses, the attack made up for it and SC Braga won 3 very important points in the fight for 3rd place in their group!
Inter 1-0 Benfica: Eagles leave Milan with a "nice result"...⠀
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Benfica did well in the first half.
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They managed to have the ball and keep Inter away from their goal.⠀
Offensively, there was a lack of a reference point who could play with his back to goal.⠀
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The attack with Rafa, Di Maria and David Neres didn't work. It wasn't very aggressive in pressing and wasn't good at setting up plays.
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Despite everything, Benfica were in control of the game and contested the result.
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In the 2nd half, Inter's performance improved and they were much better than Benfica. ⠀
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Benfica were non-existent offensively and massacred defensively by Inter! ⠀
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The Italians perfectly exploited the weaknesses on the right side of Roger Schmdit's team's defense.
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Di Maria was always minus one at the back and left Tomás Araújo too exposed to Inter's attacks.
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Linking up several times with Mkhitaryan and Barella, Di Marco created chance after chance.⠀
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However, the problems weren't just on the right side of Benfica's defense. ⠀
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In midfield, João Neves and Kökcü were unable to cope with the Italian team's midfielders.⠀
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Kökcü had a game to forget. His work without the ball (reaction to loss and aggression in duels) was a complete nullity. ⠀
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1-0 turned out to be a good result for Benfica given Inter's superiority.
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The Italians had several chances to score the 1st goal.⠀
Even after opening the scoring, they came close to extending their lead on several occasions.⠀
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Only a festival of missed chances by Lautauro Martínez, great saves from Trubin and cuts from Otamendi prevented Benfica from leaving Milan with a defeat. ⠀
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Of the few positives that Benfica can take from this game is Trubin's display...⠀
After a somewhat shaky start, the Ukrainian goalkeeper has been on the rise and today against Inter he put in his best performance since joining the Eagles!⠀
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After two matches, Benfica have lost two games and are in last place in their group. Life is tough for Roger Schmidt's team in the Champions League...