Lamine Yamal and Raphinha were in scintillating form as Barcelona thrashed Benfica 3-1 on Tuesday, sealing a 4-1 aggregate victory and advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals.
Raphinha struck twice, sandwiching a brilliant goal from Yamal, as Barcelona dominated the first half. Building on their 1-0 win in the first leg in Lisbon, the Catalans were clinical in attack, leaving Benfica with little chance.
Benfica briefly levelled the score after Raphinha’s early opener, with Nicolas Otamendi heading home from a corner. However, the visitors were blown away as Barcelona displayed some of their best attacking football in recent memory.
Barcelona’s victory came as a tribute to late club doctor Carles Minarro, who passed away suddenly on Saturday. The team held a moment of silence before the match in his honour, with coach Hansi Flick dedicating the win to him.
The match got off to a flying start for Barcelona when Yamal, cutting in from the right, passed the ball across to Raphinha, who calmly slotted it home in the 11th minute. However, Benfica responded quickly, with Otamendi rising above Ronald Araujo to head in from a corner just two minutes later.
Barcelona’s goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny had been superb in the first leg, but he could have done better to keep out Otamendi’s header. Nonetheless, the Blaugrana regained control and were soon ahead again, thanks to a moment of brilliance from Yamal. The 17-year-old forward danced inside from the right and unleashed a stunning shot past Anatoliy Trubin into the far corner—his first goal in seven matches.
Raphinha then added his second before the break. After a brilliant counter-attack started by Alejandro Balde, the left-back carried the ball from his own area and slipped a perfect pass to Raphinha, who fired home for Barcelona’s third goal of the evening. Raphinha’s 11th goal in the competition saw him lead the scoring charts.
Despite missing the injured Ángel Di María, Benfica struggled to break down Barcelona’s defense, and their hopes of a comeback were dashed when a second-half goal from Fredrik Aursnes was ruled out for offside.
Barcelona remained dominant, with Raphinha and Yamal causing constant problems for Benfica. The Catalans came close to adding a fourth goal when Frenkie de Jong poked just wide at the end of a brilliant team move.
Barcelona will now turn their focus to their quarter-final opponents, awaiting either Borussia Dortmund or Lille, and will prepare for a crucial La Liga clash against Atlético Madrid on Sunday, as they continue their bid for the Spanish title.
AFP
