BARCELONA.- He FC Barcelona survived a balanced first half to end up punching their ticket to the quarterfinals of the Champions League with a 7-2 win at home against Newcastle in the second leg of their round of 16 tie, this Wednesday, after the 1-1 draw in England.
A prison transformed by Lamine Yamal in the 45th minute+7 it allowed Barça to go into the break ahead, after their two previous advantages due to the Brazilian’s goals Raphinha (6′) and Marc Bernal (18′) were neutralized, respectively, by two goals from the Swede Anthony Elanga (15′ and 28′).
In the second half, Fermin Lopez (52′), a double from the Pole Robert Lewandowski (56′ and 61′) and Raphinha (72′), on an afternoon where he especially shone with two goals and two assists, sealed the comprehensive victory of the leader of the Spanish championship against the ninth-placed team in the Premier League.
“It was a crazy game. In the first half we were not good, but it was much better in the second. That 3-2 goal allowed us to get back into the game before the break, I think it was an important goal,” admitted the coach Hansi Flick.
It is the third consecutive season in which Barcelona will reach the quarterfinals of the main European tournament, after falling in the 2023-2024 season in that round against the PSGthen led by Kylian Mbappéand being eliminated in the semifinals of the last 2024-2025 campaign by the Inter Milan.
Barça’s opponent in the quarterfinals could be another Spanish LaLiga team, Atlético de Madrid, their executioner recently in the semifinals of the King’s Cupor the Tottenham English.
Relief for Yamal
The classification and the penalty goal on the brink of half-time were a huge relief for the Barcelona star, the 18-year-old Yamal, who in the first half had not exactly had a lucky performance, losing a ball on the edge of his area that ended up being Elanga’s second goal and inexplicably missing, with everything in his favor, an opportunity at 45+1 that sent him skyrocketing in the face of general perplexity.
Yamal’s goal in the 45+7 had a liberating effect for him and gave his team a psychological boost heading into the second half, after a first half where the Magpies put up enormous resistance.
Everything seemed to be heading towards a peaceful afternoon in Barcelona for the home team, when Yamal led a play from the center for Raphinha, who leaned on Fermín in the area, who in turn returned it to the Brazilian to score the first with a cross shot in the sixth minute of the game.
Elanga equalized in the 15th with another cross shot in the area, beating a Joan Garcia that was left in a half exit.
Three minutes later, Raphinha hit a free kick into the area that Gerard Martin He touched a header to assist Bernal, who pushed for the goal, but in the 28th minute Elanga leveled the score again.
Lewandowski, unmasked
The penalty scored by Yamal at 45+7 laid out the red carpet that the pitch was going to become for Barça in the second half.
Raphinha continued to be the offensive engine of his team: he gave the assist that left Fermín in a one-on-one against Aaron Ramsdalewhich the Andalusian did not waste in the 52nd minute, and then the Brazilian took the corner that Lewandowski headed into the net.
The veteran Polish scorer, who played with a protective face mask that he took off to celebrate his goals, scored again in the 61st minute, this time with a cross shot after a great personal action by Yamal, author of the assist.
Raphinha culminated his outstanding performance in the match by making the final 7-2 in the 72nd minute, cutting off a pass from the visiting defense in the area to end up scoring his team’s seventh, thus confirming his candidacy for the “Orejona”.
The only bad news of the afternoon for Barça were the changes due to injury to their defense Eric Garcia twenty minutes into the game and the goalkeeper Joan Garcia in 82′.
