After a long wait, the Champions League came back in full force with four great quarterfinal games. The one that mattered most for all Culers happened at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona. As is often the case with FC Barcelona’s matches, it provided a lot of entertainment and even more great football. Although it wasn’t always certain if the game would end up being a walk in the park for Hansi Flick’s team, especially after their lackluster La Liga performance.
From the very first pass, the game was controlled by the Catalan team. The players created attempt after attempt, never giving Gregor Kobel much time to rest. Lamine Yamal noted two in the span of only a few minutes and Robert Lewandowski quickly added one of his own. All in all, it seemed all but inevitable for the score to change.
Borussia’s players could feel it too. The general tension led to a foul that resulted in a free kick being awarded to Barca. Fermin Lopez was the one to take it. The ball soared straight into Borussia’s penalty box, reaching a perfect spot for Pau Cubarsi to direct it towards Kobel’s net. His efforts would have been enough for a goal, but to make sure that nothing would go awry, Raphinha finished off the action. The move could have turned out to be a mistake as there was a chance that he was offside. A quick VAR check revealed that it was not the case.
Borussia picked up the speed in the second half, pushing the game closer to Wojeciech Szczęsny’s goal. They carried out multiple thought-out actions, but none was quite enough to get through Barcelona’s defense. The first half ended with a great attempt from Serhou Guirassy. Unfortuantely for him, the ball only managed to hit the side net.
As good as Barcelona’s first half was, it did not compare to the second one. Only a few minutes after the referee resumed the game, Raphina, Yamal, and Lewandowski worked together to create a beautiful goal for the Spanish team. It started with Yamal passing the ball to the penalty box. There Raphinha’s header directed it towards Lewandowski who finished the sequence with a header of his own.
Even with a two-goal lead over the German team, Barcelona did not slow down. Just like they had done at the beginning of the game, they pushed hard, never giving their rivals room to breathe. Their efforts led to Borussia conceding a third goal. This one, just like the one before, was added to the tally of Lewandowski. A fourth goal followed soon after. With Lamine Yamal being the one to put the ball in Kobel’s net, Barcelona’s offensive trio all scored in the quarterfinal game.
Although Borussia tried to find a situation that would allow them not to finish the game with a zero on their side of the score, they were not able to do so. A spark of hope lit up in the team’s hearts as the ball found the back of Szczęsny’s net in the 88th minute but the goal was determined to have been scored offside. The final score stood at 4:0 for the home team.
The game was everything the Culers could have hoped for. The second leg of the quarterfinal will be played in Dortmund on April 15th. For the German team to have a chance to advance, they need to score at least four goals in the regular time. Against a team as grand as Barcelona, that will not be an easy fit to achieve.
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