Barca's bet on Szczesny is paying off handsomely

Barcelona - Barcelona hold a slender lead on Benfica ahead of their Champions League last-16 second leg clash today and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (right) deserves a fair share of the credit for it.

- 

Pedri was named Man-of-the-Match in Barca's 1-0 win in Lisbon last Wednesday but Polish veteran Szczesny said he merited at least "half" of the trophy, and the Spaniard said his teammate should have it.

The goalkeeper, 34, will get another chance to win one himself at the Olympic Stadium with Portuguese visitors Benfica needing to go on the attack to turn the tie around.

With Barcelona down to 10 men in the first leg after Pau Cubarsi's early red card, Szczesny made several fine saves to help the Catalans hold on after Raphinha sent them ahead.

It was his best performance since arriving at Barcelona in October on an emergency basis, after first-choice goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen suffered a severe knee injury.

"He is fantastic, he helped us a lot, that is his job, we cannot hide it," said Barca coach Hansi Flick.