Barcelona qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals in the name of Carles Miñarro, as a journey they began together continued in his absence.
On Tuesday morning a funeral was held for the club doctor who had died suddenly at the team hotel three days earlier; the same evening, the players he had cared for and who had spent the previous night at the chapel of rest paid homage the only way they really could.
“We tried to do everything for him,” Pedri said after they defeated Benfica 3-1 at Montjuïc, a hugely impressive display dedicated to him.
“He will be supporting us wherever he is; it is very important for us to win for him,” Hansi Flick had said, and so they did.
A superb first half was enough, Raphinha scoring two and Lamine Yamal becoming the youngest player to score and assist in the Champions League, at 17 years and 241 days.
“What has happened gave us strength,” Raphinha said at the end, he also said that Barcelona are candidates to win this competition, and on the evidence here that does not feel like such a leap of faith.
Benfica were blown away, the half-time whistle coming as a relief, a chance at last to take a moment without red and blue shirts running at them from everywhere. It was 3-1 by then, 4-1 on aggregate, and Bruno Lage’s team were flattered by the one. And, in fact, by the three. The shot count read 12-1.
The hope now less that they could find a way back into it as that it might be over, and so it was. There was little need for more, Barcelona easing their way to the finish, managing the remaining 45 minutes.
From the first minute, when Frenkie de Jong had driven at them, there was a sense of mission about Barcelona, the game taking shape then one of speed, open spaces, and skill. Especially when Lamine Yamal had the ball, which was often.
Raphinha scores Barça’s third goal. Photograph: Albert Gea/Reuters
Not that it was just him. Pedri, once so physically vulnerable, now seems invincible, a steel to go with the smoothness. Dani Olmo detected gaps no one else did, somehow always seeming to have room. From further back, Alex Balde repeatedly came bombing forward. Raphinha was, again, decisive.
How Benfica must be sick of the man who took his total against them to five in three games here. Only Robert Lewandowski was not at his best. Twice he received near the penalty spot, the first provided by Lamine Yamal, the second by Olmo; both times he would have expected to score, neither time did he.
The other two forwards did. Barcelona took the lead on 11 minutes and lost it again two minutes later but it didn’t matter. Lamine Yamal had made that first chance for Lewandowski, now he made the opener for Raphinha. Cutting one way then back again, twisting Florentino Luís’s hips, he seemed to be opening up his body to bend the ball towards the far corner but the shot, scuffed slightly, faded rightwards, accidentally turning into the perfect cross for Raphinha instead. The Brazilian volleyed in.
skip past newsletter promotion
Sign up to Football Daily
Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
Quick Guide
Show
Marcus Thuram (pictured) and Hakan Calhanoglu were on target as Inter defeated Feyenoord 2-1 in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie to advance comfortably into the quarter-finals with a 4-1 aggregate win.
Inter, the Serie A leaders, will face the Bundesliga table toppers Bayern Munich, who defeated Bayer Leverkusen 5-0 on aggregate, in the quarter-finals next month. The three-time winners Inter last lifted the trophy in 2010, beating Bayern in the final in a treble-winning season, and Inzaghi’s side are still on course to repeat that feat, with a Coppa Italia semi-final also to come in April.
Feyenoord came into the game with an uphill task after losing 2-0 at home last week, and by the eighth minute they were left with a mountain to climb following Thuram’s superb solo goal. Thuram, who also opened the scoring at De Kuip in the first leg, collected the ball on the left wing before cutting inside with some clever footwork before curling a shot into the far top corner.
Mehdi Taremi sent a shot straight at the keeper as Inter looked to put the tie even further out of reach but Feyenoord pulled one back three minutes before the break from the penalty spot.
Calhanoglu was penalised for a foul on Jakub Moder who picked himself up and sent his spot kick into the bottom corner to beat Yann Sommer, just the second goal Inter have conceded in this season’s competition, and the first at San Siro.
Any hope of a Feyenoord comeback all but ended when Calhanoglu made up for his mistake by converting his own penalty six minutes into the second half after Thomas Beelen fouled Taremi.
With Feyenoord taking risks in an effort to get something from the game, Inter were always dangerous on the counter and looked like they had another penalty but after a VAR check, Thuram was booked for simulation instead.
Thuram still received a standing ovation from the home crowd when replaced, having just struck a thunderous shot which bounced back off the underside of the crossbar, and Inter had little trouble seeing the game out. Reuters
Photograph: Marcel van Dorst/Rex Features
Thank you for your feedback.
They had barely finished celebrating when Nicolás Otamendi headed in from Andreas Schjelderup’s corner at the other end, the ball reaching him off Lewandowski. So Barcelona just did it all over again, the chances still coming. As for Lamine Yamal, he did that.
The 17-year-old was by the corner flag when he started to move. There was a shift of the hips and he escaped Tomás Araújo, entering the penalty area at the side and exiting it at the top, literally cutting off the corner, space now to shoot. Only “shot” is not really the word for what he did next, even “kick” is not. Instead, he nudged the ball, little more than the flip of an ankle, yet enough to somehow send it 20 yards into the far corner. It curled and floated and drifted, entirely deliberately, travelling almost teasingly, as if it was waving on its way past Anatoliy Trubin: you can look but you can’t touch.
Raphinha polishes the boot of Yamal after the 17-year-old’s goal. Photograph: Albert Gea/Reuters
Raphinha came over and polished Lamine Yamal’s boot, then added the third when Balde burst up the middle of the pitch and rolled the ball into his path. The finish was hard, low and unstoppable, even for the linesman whose flag was raised and then overruled by the VAR, allowing him to stand atop the advertising boards, arms wide, the moment shared with this stadium.
All that prevented Barcelona adding more was the fact that they did not need to, this was done. It was not that there were no chances in the second half – it began with Ronald Araújo heading into the side-netting and a flick from Lamine Yamal almost releasing Olmo – but the pace dropped, the urgency gone.
Benfica tried, of course, Vangelis Pavlidis striking straight at Wojciech Szczesny and Iñigo Martínez diving in to block Samuel Dahl’s shot, the ball coming back off his elbow. There was a brief VAR check but no real belief that it would lead to anything, those few seconds a portrait of the second period.
Other than Zeki Amdouni’s header being stopped on the line by Jules Koundé with five minutes left, mostly Benfica had played with little real faith of another goal. Not least because they were not truly allowed any. Barcelona’s control remained intact, this no longer feeling like a contest. Instead, it was a homage, just as they had hoped it would be, dedicated to the doctor.
