Agency Report
Lamine Yamal and Raphinha dazzled as Barcelona thumped Benfica 3-1 on Tuesday, reaching the Champions League quarter-finals 4-1 on aggregate.
Raphinha netted either side of a stunning Yamal strike as the Catalans dominated in the first half, building on their 1-0 last 16, first leg win in Lisbon.
Nicolas Otamendi had quickly levelled Raphinha’s opener, but the visitors were blown away at the Olympic Stadium as Barcelona progressed comfortably from the tie and produced some moments of brilliant attacking football.
Hansi Flick’s side will face Borussia Dortmund or Lille in the quarter-finals as they aim to win the competition for the first time since 2015 and the era of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.
Flick said Barca would play for late club doctor Carles Minarro, who died suddenly on Saturday ahead of the team’s match against Osasuna, which was postponed, and the players observed a silence in his honour before kick-off.
Five-time winners Barca took the lead after 11 minutes when Spain international Yamal burst into the area, chopped his way past Florentino, and then mishit the ball across to Raphinha for a simple finish.
Benfica levelled within two minutes when Otamendi escaped Ronald Araujo to head home from a corner.
Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny excelled in the first leg as the Catalans claimed an impressive win with 10 men after Pau Cubarsi’s red card, but might have done more to keep out Otamendi’s effort.
However, Barcelona, and particularly their wingers Yamal and Raphinha, were in sensational form, and they quickly reclaimed their lead.
Yamal netted his first goal in seven matches, but it was worth the wait, with the 17-year-old cutting in from the right and arcing a sensational shot past Anatoliy Trubin and in at the far post from the edge of the box.
Raphinha grabbed his second before the break to give Barcelona a three-goal aggregate lead after a blistering run by Alejandro Balde.
The left-back won the ball back in his area and sliced open the Portuguese team on the counter, carrying it to the edge of Benfica’s area before teeing up Raphinha.
It was the winger’s 11th strike of the competition and he leads the scoring charts.
Bruno Lage’s side were without injured midfielder Angel Di Maria but even with him beating Flick’s Barca on this form would have been a difficult ask.
Fredrik Aursnes netted Benfica in the second half but the goal was disallowed for offside against Vangelis Pavlidis, who scored a hat-trick as Barca won 5-4 in their first meeting this season, in the league stage in January.
For the most part Benfica struggled to trouble Szczesny, and Barcelona came close to scoring a fourth when Frenkie de Jong poked wide on the stretch at the end of a razor-sharp team move.
Barcelona now await their quarter-final opponent and can start preparing to visit Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Sunday, in a huge clash in the Spanish title race.
AFP
