Benfica
started the game strong, controlling over 60% of possession early on
and creating chances through the likes of Renato Sanches and Angel Di
María, while Bruma clanked one of the post before being called off side. However,
it was Boca Juniors, who struck first in the 21st minute with Lautaro
Blanco’s incisive run and low cross path finding its way to Miguel
Merentiel, who finished with a clinically goal to give Boca a 1-0 lead.
Boca
would strike again just six minutes later, when Rodrigo Battaglia's
header off of a corner found it's way into the back of the net. The
Argentine side capitalized on a pair of mistakes by Benfica, who then
struggled to regain their composure for much of the half until just
before the break, when Otamendi went down under contact inside the box, a VAR review would award a kick from the penalty
spot.
Angel
di Maria stepped up to the spot and coolly placed the ball into the
lower left corner of the net, beating his former international teammate
Agustin Marchesin and cutting the lead to 2-1 before the half time
whistle would sound, reigniting Benfica's hopes.
The
second half would see tensions boil over, queuing the circus music,
Benfica did their best to try to equalize but Boca made sure to slow the
tempo to a point where the first 25 minutes of the second half actually
saw as little as 9 minutes of action. The frustration got the best of
the Portuguese club as at the 70th minute mark Andrea Belotti who was
just brought in at the half would see a straight red card from a high
foot that caught the Boca defender in the head.
But
Benfica unlike the officials in this match, were relentless and scored
the equalizer from a corner set piece as Orkun Kokcu's ball whipped into
the box found the head of captain Otamendi who would bring the game
level at the 84th minute of the game. Boca would then see a straight red
as Jorge Fical went in with a reckless challenge on Florentino at the
88 minute mark leaving both clubs with ten men on the pitch.
The
final whistle would come quicker then most fans would have expected
with the match officials only adding five minutes of injury time to the
clock, infuriating hardcore and casual fans alike, who expected at
minimum to see double digits from the officials for the time wasting
that brought most of the second half to a stand still.
Benfica
fans can be happy that the club played right to the end and earned a
draw but they can also be disappointed with the poor starting XI chosen
by Bruno Lage to commence this contest. The officiating was some of the
worse seen in sometime and the match crew lost control of this game when
they chose to withhold obvious card infractions from the start of the
game.
Benfica
will next face amateur club Auckland City on Friday and know very well
that advancement to the next round of the competition may come down to
goal differential and they would be wise to hit the New Zealanders with
everything they have and pad the scoresheet before they face Bayern
Munich next week.
