Deep into the stoppage time, Benfica forward Haris Seferovic chipped the ball over Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen and set himself up for a volley with just the gaping net, only to scuff the chance and the opportunity to lead Benfica past the group stage for the first time 2016-17 season. With the miss, Benfica had to settle for a 0-0 draw at Camp Nou against Barca on Tuesday in what was Xavi Hernandez’s first European game in charge of the Catalan club. 

A win at the Camp Nou Stadium would have guaranteed Barcelona a spot in the knockout stages for the 18th straight season. Now, Barca will likely need a victory at Bayern Munich in its final group game to advance in the Champions League.

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Barcelona, in its first season without Lionel Messi in nearly two decades, was in danger of being relegated after losing 3-0 to Bayern Munich and Benfica in successive games. It bounced back with two straight 1-0 victories against Dynamo.

Benfica’s victory over Barcelona in their first encounter was the first for the Portuguese club over the Catalan club in six decades.

Benfica came close to breaking the scoring in the 34th minute with a thunderous header by Roman Yaremchuck that forced Ter Stegen into a foot save at the goal line. A goal by Nicolás Otamendi was disallowed a few minutes later because Everton’s free kick cross had gone out of bounds in the buildup.

Barcelona responded in the 42nd minute when Yusuf Demir‘s looping left-footed shot hit the crossbar, and Memphis Depay almost scored on a breakaway in the 57th minute.

Coming off the bench in the 66th minute, Ousmane Dembele swiftly set up a header by Frenkie de Jong, prompting a tough stop by Benfica goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos. Dembele also had a one-on-one opportunity in the closing minutes, but he was unable to score.

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In the 83rd minute, defender Ronald Araujo thought he had scored the game-winning goal, but the goal was disallowed due to offside.

The draw leaves Barcelona in the second position in Group E, two points ahead of Benfica, although Benfica has the tiebreaker advantage if it wins already-eliminated Dynamo Kyiv at home and Barcelona fails to upset the group champion Bayern Munich in the last round. 

Meanwhile, Bayern won 2-1 at Dynamo in the other match Tuesday for its fifth straight victory.

With inputs from the Associated Press