Police intervened in a tunnel burglary outside Barcelona's dressing room after LaLiga's controversial and dramatic late win over Benfica, reports in Spain claim.
Goalscorers Raphinha and Eric Garcia were involved in the melee, according to a report, while Benfica president Rui Costa left his station to question the refereeing team after the final whistle.
The home side were outraged by the decision to reward Raphinha's 96th-minute winner after they were denied a penalty in the build-up to the dramatic goal. Substitute Arthur Cabral was shown a straight red card from the bench, while Benfica players surrounded Dutch referee Danny Makkelie to passionately protest the decision.
According to Portuguese outlet A Bola, tempers continued to flare as both players went through the Estadio da Luz tunnel, requiring law enforcement to break up the altercation.
Match winner Raphinha, whose late goal completed a stunning comeback from 4-2 down to secure Barcelona's place in the Champions League last 16, hit out at Benfica players and claimed he had been insulted.
“They insulted me at the end of the match, I insulted them back,” Raphinha said.
'If they respect me, I respect them. In my opinion, they could have understood the situation, but they preferred to insult me.”
Tuesday evening's crazy match caught fire after just a few minutes when Vangelis Pavlidis tapped in from close range.
Robert Lewandowski equalized from the spot ten minutes later, before two howls from Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny gifted Benfica a two-goal cushion.
Szczesny, who came out of retirement to solve Barcelona's injury crisis, raced out of the goal and collided with his teammate Balde.
Pavlidis was there to guide the ball into the empty net and give Benfica a 2-1 lead.
The forward completed a first-half hat-trick from the penalty spot after Szczesny fouled Kerem Akturkoglu in the penalty area.
Barcelona were given a lifeline in the second half due to another goalkeeping error.
Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin fired the ball straight at Raphinha's head, with the ball bizarrely bouncing back into the net in the 64th minute.
The chaos continued when Benfica restored their two-goal lead four minutes later.
Andreas Schjelderup's cross was deflected into his own net by Ronald Araujo, leaving Barcelona staring at the prospect of defeat.
Barcelona secured a grandstand finish when Lewandowski converted his second penalty through the net, with the referee waving away Benfica's protests about awarding the penalty.
The Catalan giants then equalized in the 86th minute, with Eric Garcia rising highest to plant a header into the Benfica net.
A dramatic conclusion followed when Benfica unsuccessfully appealed for a second penalty that evening, after which Barcelona broke through clear and scored a winner through Raphinha.
Benfica boss Bruno Lage was seen after the final whistle giving his players verbal criticism after twice taking a two-goal lead in the match but losing.
'Enormous frustration with the result. Huge pride in the performance and the support of the Benfica family from start to finish,” Lage said after the match.
'We have to pick ourselves up. We have to look ahead, learn from the result, from the last minutes of the match.'
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