The Express & Star 30th April 2013 - Wolves Shine As Benavente Beats Barca!
Barcelona 2(3) - (6)3 Wolves (Champions Leagues Semi Final Leg 2)
Wolves turned on the style to oercome all odds against Barca at the Nou Camp. Frank Rijkaard had pointed out Juan Lucas, the player who picked them off in the first leg, as their main threat. But it was Cristian Benavente who stole the show with an immense performance.
It all seemed cut and dried for Barca as they shot into a two goal lead within the first two minutes. Leandro Lima twice capitalised on a hesitant Wolves defence to put Barca ahead on away goals. The ball was played into the Wolves area straight from kick off and Lima met Ronaldinhos centre at the near post to beat Ismael on just 16 seconds. And a minute later it was two as Iniestas through ball deflected off Taylor into Limas path for a simple finish.
Wolves were practically out of it, but we should have come to expect the obligatory fightback by now, which started just three minutes later! Benavente threaded through for Dalla Valle who was hacked down in the box by Vincent Kompany, leaving Theo Walcott to dispatch the penalty and put Wolves back in front on aggregate.
Having the away goal seemed to spur Wolves on and Benavente came more into the game as it wore on, bringing it nicely to the boil on 35 minutes with an amazing goal. 25 yards out he slipped the ball through to Walcott whose backheel back to Benavente completely baffled the Barca defence. The Peruvian then lit up the Nou Camp with a first time curling shot into the far corner of the net, bringing Wolves level on the night.
Wolves went into the second half in complete control and Victor Valdes kept the scoreline down until Benavente scored his second, which was arguably better than his first! Berk Yasar fed him through the middle and he pushed forward 15 yards before pulling the ball back onto his right foot and slamming a 30-yarder past Valdes' outstretched hand.
Frank Rijkaard slammed his players; 'We should have killed that game off after moving in front after 2 minutes, but we let them dictate the game to us instead. We knew what they were capable of from last week but we didnt stop them doing it. If you dont close opposition players down they will punish you.'
Gav Williams on the other hand couldnt hide his delight 'That was amazing. I thought at 2-0 down we were out of it. Maybe the penalty came at the right time, who knows, but these lads will always fight to win and thats what theyve done. I cant praise them enough!'
Wolves now just have to wait to see who they will face in the final.