FC Porto beat Barcelona 4-3 this Saturday in the first semifinal of the Roller Hockey Champions League and qualified for the final that will be 100% Portuguese.
At the José Natário pavilion, in Viana do Castelo, Rafa opened the scoring for the dragons five minutes into the match, taking advantage of a mistake by João Rodrigues. Shortly after, Pau Bargalló tied for the culés and the 1-1 went to halftime.
Eight minutes into the second half, Gonçalo Alves scored FC Porto’s second with a free-kick punishing a blue card shown to Sergi Llorca and, two minutes later, Xavi Barroso finished off the lead with a shot from distance. Again with a free kick, Gonçalo Alves couldn’t beat Sergi Fernández, but then he assisted Ezequiel Mena to make it 4-1. In numerical superiority due to a blue card to Mena, Hélder Nunes (former captain of the dragons) lowered Barcelona.
With seven minutes to go, Pau Bargalló reopened the game. New blue card for the dragons, this time for Rafa, and the Spaniard, from a direct free kick, reduced it to the minimum. However, the result did not change and the dragons ended up winning the match.
In the final, the dragons will face Valongo or Oliveirense in the final. The two Portuguese teams meet this Saturday in the other semifinal of the Champions League.
Source: TSF
