Raphinha, Yamal Shine As Barcelona Defeat Benfica To Reach Champions League Q/Finals

Raphinha scored twice and Lamine Yamal netted a stunning strike as a superb Barcelona dismantled Benfica 3-1 in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Tuesday, advancing to the quarterfinals with a 4-1 aggregate victory.

Barca will meet the winner of the tie between Lille and Borussia Dortmund, who play on Wednesday after the first leg in Germany ended in a 1-1 draw.

It was an inspired evening for teenage Yamal, who was virtually unplayable running up and down the right channel, creating most of Barca’s scoring chances.

The 17-year-old Spain winger worked his magic with a spectacular solo run to gift Raphinha the opener in the 11th minute, leaving two opponents on the ground before crossing for the Brazil forward to poke the ball into the net with a close-range volley.

Benfica hit back through a Nicolas Otamendi’s header from a corner two minutes later, but Barca kept piling on the pressure with Yamal proving a nightmare for Benfica left back Samuel Dahl, who was powerless to stop the Spanish teenager.

Yamal teed up chances for Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo and missed with a low strike from the edge of the box, before he finally put the home side back in front in the 28th minute.

He cut inside and beat a disorientated Dahl before unleashing a swerving left-footed shot into keeper Anatoliy Trubin’s top-right corner.

ESPN reports that at 17 years and 241 days, Yamal became the youngest player to both score and assist in the same Champions League game, surpassing Breel Embolo’s previous record with Basel against Ludogorets in 2014 by 22 days.