Barcelona went to Portugal in order to defeat Benfica and assure a place in the semifinals. But the local team had enough power to hold them to a 0-0 draw. Ronaldinho and Eto'o couldn't break the deadlock.The Spanish side had a string of opportinities to score, but a mix of poor finishing and stubborn defending kept Benfica in with a chance of springing a surprise in the return leg of this Champions League quarter-final next week.
Local keeper Moretto de Souza performed a double save from Ronaldinho Gaucho, initially parrying his fierce drive before tipping the rebound over the bar. That was an important moment of the game.
Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Mark Van Bommel shot many times to beat Benfica, but they were not precise enough.
In the second half, Fabrizio Miccoli replaced Laurent Robert. With this decision, Benfica's attack immediately improved.
In the 80th, Sabrosa got behind the Barcelona defense but Valdes rushed out to stop him.
Giorgos Karagounis then managed to hit the Barcelona post with a free kick from 25 meters in the most dangerous move of the last part. The game was esciting indeed, but it wasn't a good result for Barcelona.
