Barcelona's outrageous Champions League comeback against Benfica on Tuesday had to be seen to be believed.
In a match full of blooper-reel goals and laughable moments, the Catalan club somehow managed to squeeze out of Portugal with all three points, while Benfica could only shake their heads in disbelief.
The La Liga giants conceded just two minutes into the match, and a pair of mistakes by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny saw them trailing 4-2 with just 20 minutes to go against an opponent which was energetic and incisive.
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Yet Hansi Flick engineered a comeback for the ages, with braces from both Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha to lead the way.
"I've never experienced a comeback like this in my life," Flick said after the match. "I don't remember ever having such a moment and adrenaline rush in my career, it was something else.
"The best thing was the mentality."
Substitutes Eric Garcia and Ferran Torres each contributed heavily to the late charge, with Garcia's thumping header bringing Barcelona level before Torres picked up the assist on Raphinha's last-gasp winner.
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There were multiple fluky moments, including Raphinha's first goal which saw the Benfica goalkeeper cannon a long-ball off his face and into the back of the net.
Yet there was plenty to be concerned about, according to former Barcelona striker Thierry Henry, who was honest after the match.
"When you go as the coach in the dressing room after, you're not going to be too happy about what happened in the entire game," Henry said while working as an analyst for CBS Sports in the United States.
"Coming back is outstanding, but a lot of the goals came on mistakes," Henry said. "What are we talking about with 'great game?' A great game was Atletico against Leverkusen, that's where you dig in and play a great game. Now, if you go back and watch the goals, you almost don't want to watch them."
Henry wouldn't say there is pressure on Flick after this result, but said they'll have to be more careful moving forward. "I don't know if it [the pressure] is on Hansi Flick, but the team itself, you still conceded four goals, and goals that were avoidable. You managed to come back, the spirit was there, the coming back was there, but you should never have been in that situation in the first place. You should be a tiny bit more controlled.
"In Barcelona things are always over-analyzed. Again, you won you came back, you're going through, well done. But conceding four is not normal."
A big culprit for the goals conceded was Szczesny, who found himself struggling in his first Champions League start since November of 2022. Coming out of retirement to join Barcelona for the season, Szczesny was to blame for Benfica's second goal as he bulldozed his own teammate Alex Balde leaving Vangelis Pavlidis to walk the ball into an open net. He then conceded a penalty less than 10 minutes later which Pavlidis converted.
Yet Flick would not throw his goalkeeper under the bus after the result. "Every player makes mistakes," Flick said of Szczesny's performance. "We lose and win together. I liked the second half."
Barcelona will host Atalanta next week in their final game of the league phase, looking only to catch Liverpool for the top spot, but otherwise knowing the game presents little competitive value.