| Torrential rain. A defensive line high enough to have even Ange Postecoglou clutching his pearls. Nine goals, three of them penalties, one of them turned into his own net by a defender and another an unrepeatable freak accident. Three goalkeeping howlers, two of them perpetrated by a man who retired last August. Some breathtaking saves. An amazing comeback. An extremely late winner followed by a VAR check that threatened to not only chalk it off, but award a penalty at the other end. A very public post-match dressing-down harking back to the Phil Brown b@nter era and an opportunity to further riff on the misery of Manchester United, even though they weren’t playing. Football Daily has probably witnessed more chaotic and rewarding games of football than the absolute thriller won by Barcelona against Benfica at the Estádio do Sport last night but in terms of sheer entertainment we’re struggling to come up with one off the top of our noggin that genuinely ticks more boxes. While the conspicuous absence of a brawl and at least one red card means Tuesday’s Bigger Cup match in Portugal doesn’t meet every single one of Football Daily’s criteria for a stone-wall classic, we’re happy to applaud Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny’s commendable effort to ensure we were treated to both. However, having reflected on his rush of blood to the head, we’re prepared to concede that it’s probably even more entertaining that the player he violently poleaxed in the buildup to Benfica’s second goal happened to be one of his own teammates. While the accidental assault committed on Alejandro Balde by Szczesny, who had hung up his gloves and boots last summer only to perform a u-turn in Barcelona’s hour of need, was almost certainly our favourite moment from last night’s match, it had stiff competition. His foul for the penalty was fun, albeit not as delightful as the sight of his disconsolate opposite number Anatoliy Trubin smashing a kickout into Raphina’s head and watching the ball ricochet past him into the back of his own net. The fact that TNT’s commentary team happened to be singing the Ukrainian goalkeeper’s praises at the time rendered the whole incident even more comically absurd. After some late, late controversy Benfica ran out desperately unlucky losers only to be very publicly berated on the pitch by their manager Bruno Lage. It wasn’t all bad news for the former Wolves boss, who can at least take comfort from the knowledge that in Alvaro Carreras, he has a real prospect. The 21-year-old caused Barcelona all sorts of problems and is exactly the kind of left wing-back Manchester United are currently crying out for. Coincidentally he is also exactly the same left wing-back the collective geniuses of the Ineos hive mind offloaded to the Portuguese outfit for £5m back in August having deemed him surplus to requirements at Old Trafford. | 