Barcelona threw it again to their glory days with a four-goal masterclass that left Borussia Dortmund surprised and reeling on Wednesday.
Robert Lewandowski struck twice and Raphinha dazzled with a purpose and two assists, powering the Catalans to a commanding 4-0 win within the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals – their clearest path to the final 4 since 2019.
Teen sensation Lamine Yamal added a late fourth to all however crush Dortmund’s semifinal desires.
The return leg is ready for Tuesday in Germany, the place Dortmund – final season’s runners-up – should now try a miracle.
“We’re not through yet,” mentioned Barcelona boss Hansi Flick. “Football is madness. We must play like this again in Dortmund.”
The insanity, nevertheless, is all on Dortmund’s aspect now.
Raphinha opened the floodgates within the twenty fifth minute, poking in a unfastened ball for his twelfth purpose of the match – nonetheless main all scorers.
The Brazilian then teed up Lewandowski within the forty eighth for the primary of the Pole’s two targets, earlier than helping Yamal’s end within the 77th.
Lewandowski’s second got here within the 66th, a scientific one-timer that introduced his Champions League tally to 105, behind solely Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
At 36, he now holds the report for many UCL targets after turning 35 – 14, two greater than Ronaldo.
“I’m always thinking of how to help the team with goals,” Lewandowski mentioned. “When the team plays this well, it becomes easy for me.”
Raphinha, in the meantime, has scored in 4 straight UCL knockout matches – seven targets in that span – and humbly apologized to 17-year-old defender Pau Cubarsi post-match for tapping in what might have been the defender’s first Champions League purpose.
“It was going in, but I just couldn’t resist,” Raphinha mentioned with a smile.
Yamal, 17, now has 4 UCL targets – greater than any participant earlier than turning 18.
Barcelona, who final lifted the trophy in 2015, are rediscovering the European firepower that when made them feared.
Flick, who led Bayern to the title in 2020, is just not drawing comparisons but however sees one thing particular brewing.
“There’s an unbelievable atmosphere in this team,” Flick informed DAZN. “The way they believe, the quality they bring – I haven’t seen this form from us before.”
Dortmund coach Niko Kovac was blunt in his evaluation: “We thoroughly deserved to lose. We defended badly, punished ourselves, and even gave up a goal from our own throw-in. It’s not good.”
Barcelona will now look forward to a possible semifinal conflict with both Bayern Munich or Inter Milan – with Inter holding a slim 2-1 edge forward of their return leg.
But Lewandowski isn’t getting forward of himself.
“We scored four, but that doesn’t mean we’re safe,” he mentioned. “This is the Champions League – anything can happen.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com