Roller hockey champions: Barcelona beat FC Porto at Dragão Arena | OneFootball

FC Porto suffered their first European defeat of the season, losing to FC Barcelona 3-5, and remain with 12 points in Group A of the Champions League, now led by the Catalans with 13. Carlo Di Benedetto, Hélder Nunes, and Ezequiel Mena were the scorers for the Dragons at Dragão Arena.

With the return of Ricardo Ares, Xavier Barroso, and Carles Grau to Invicta, the team coached by Paulo Freitas started by creating the best chances through Carlo Di Benedetto, Hélder Nunes, and Telmo Pinto, but without success. About four minutes before halftime, a cross shot from Gonçalo Alves forced Sergí Fernández into action, and shortly after, Marc Grau put the visitors ahead (23m), in one of the few opportunities of that period.

Right at the start of the second half, Xavier Barroso extended the lead to 0-2 (28m). Sergí Fernández continued to deny shots from Rafa and Carlo Di Benedetto—this one from a direct free resulting from the tenth foul—and Sergi Llorca made it 0-3 (33m). The French international from FC Porto pulled one back the following minute after combining with Hélder Nunes (34m). Gonçalo Alves missed a direct free awarded shortly after, Barroso scored his second in the last ten minutes, and Hélder Nunes reduced the deficit to 2-4 (45m) by beating Sergí Fernández.

Sergi Aragonés made it 2-5 at 46 minutes. Ezequiel Mena pulled one back in the final minute and, although the refereeing team initially disallowed the goal, considering the ball had not crossed the line, the Argentine eventually confirmed the 3-5 two seconds before the end. In the final moments, Carlo Di Benedetto and Gonçalo Alves received blue cards for protesting and left the rink.

In the next matchday, scheduled for Sunday at 19:00 and broadcast on Porto Canal, FC Porto will travel to CH Carvalhos’ pavilion for the 13th round of the national championship.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.