By the time Lamine Yamal had drawn a save from Kobel after drifting inside and shooting across goal after beating Bensebaini on the outside, only four minutes had passed of this Champions League first-leg quarter-final. Soon, Robert Lewandowski would test Kobel after Raphinha and Pedri combined to find him. Six minutes in and Barcelona had got into scoring positions thrice.
This felt similar to narrations of how Brazil had started against USSR in the 1958 World Cup; Garrincha shredding opposition to ribbons. Lev Yashin’s shirt was soaked in sweat as if he had been playing for hours, Ney Bianchi had written. The greatest three minutes in the history of football was Gabriel Hanot’s verdict. Both accounts were reproduced in Ruy Castro’s biography of Garrincha.
Lewandowski’s brace and a goal each from Raphinha and Yamal lit up the evening, the 4-0 win keeping Barcelona’s quest for a treble alive. The trio has 82 goals in all competitions this season. Borussia Dortmund have 81.
“Lamine, Raphinha and I are working well on and off the pitch,” Lewandowski said after the match. The Pole now has 40 goals in all competitions this term, the first in Europe’s top five, and 99 goals for Barcelona. He has scored 14 goals in the Champions League after turning 35. Even Cristiano Ronaldo could not do that.
Barcelona are the third club after Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich for whom Lewandowski has scored 10 goals or more in a Champions League season. At 36, he is averaging 1.02 goals per game in 2024-25. He doesn’t have a Ballon d’Or and if he doesn’t get it this term it could be because a teammate will.
For, jaw-dropping as Lewandowski’s numbers are, consider Raphinha’s. A goal and two assists took the Brazilian’s goal contribution to 48 this term, more than what Rivaldo and Ronaldinho ever managed at Barcelona. Raphinha has 12 goals and seven assists in 11 matches in Europe. It makes him the first in the competition’s history to have more than 10 goals and five assists. His current tally is also the best Lionel Messi ever managed in a Champions League campaign and though no one is talking about it because this tie is only half done, Barcelona could play four more matches.
It would have been one less had Raphinha not touched Pau Cubarsi’s prompt after Inigo Martinez cushioned Fermin Lopez’s free-kick awarded after Karim Adeyemi pulled Jules Kounde’s hair. It could also have been chalked off for off-side and Raphinha said he has apologised to Cubarsi. As it turned out, Cubarsi became the youngest defender in Champions League to provide an assist at 18 years and 77 days, Raphinha scored in his fourth successive Champions League knockout match, and after 25 minutes, Barcelona were in front.
And all over their opponents in the second half. Borussia Dortmund could have scored before half-time but Serhou Guirassy failed to take his chances, Wojciech Szczesny thwarted Jamie Gittens and Carney Chukwuemeka’s shots were blocked.
Dortmund also missed Nico Schlotterbeck, Marcel Sabitzer and Pacsal Gross but that was not why skipper Emre Can said they lost. “We were soft. We weren’t cohesive enough. And, on top of that, we made simple mistakes,” he told DAZN.
Yamal and Raphinha combined for the second goal, a header from the goalline by Lewandowski in the 48th. Lewandowski’s second of the night, in the 66th, too had a contribution from Yamal with Lopez also helping. By then, Barcelona were gliding, Dortmund grounded.
Yamal’s 14th goal of the season came after Lewandowski wrested possession and passed to Raphinha. The teenager, under pressure, scored with a left-foot toe-poke so swift and smart that Kobel was left ball-watching. “When a team plays that well, goals normally flow,” said Barcelona coach Hansi Flick.
Barcelona lead La Liga, are in the Copa del Rey final and can add to five Champions League titles. Their high defensive line usually leads to opponents caught embarrassingly off-side. They have scored 144 goals in all competitions and the frontline has sparked comparisons with Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jr .
But go back a bit in time and the season of mellow fruitfulness would look far from possible. There was talk of Lewandowski’s age, Raphinha moving to Saudi Arabia and Yamal being young.
Well, Yamal now has four Champions League goals, a record for a player younger than 18, Lewandowski is not just scoring, he is creating space for others by occupying central defenders, and Raphinha is in the form of his life. A first semi-final since 2018-19 looks more plausible than it ever did.