Veteran Robert Lewandowski and prodigy Lamine Yamal were among the heroes as Barcelona defeated Borussia Dortmund 4-0 at the Estadi Olimpic on Wednesday, in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie. The Catalans completely outclassed the German side in what was an entertaining, end-to-end game.
Raphinha opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 25th minute when he turned Pau Cubarsi’s effort over the line. The goal underlined a dominant first half in which Barcelona had more than 60 per cent of the ball and completed more than twice as many passes as Dortmund.
Former Borussia Dortmund striker Lewandowski doubled the lead soon after the restart when Lamine Yamal and Raphinha combined beautifully to set the Pole up for a headed finish right in the goalmouth. Barca’s front man has now scored 28 goals in 28 matches against his former club since he left them on a free transfer in the summer of 2014.
Lewandowski and Yamine Lamal added some gloss to the scoreline much later in the half with cool finishes. Dortmund thought they had pulled one back in the 89th minute when Maximilian Beier struck the ball cleanly past Szczesny into the bottom left corner, but the referee blew the whistle for offside.
It was a tough night for the German side, who will now host Barcelona at the Signal Iduna Park next Tuesday for the second leg.
