Three talking points as Barcelona cruise past Borussia Dortmund in 4-0 Champions League win | OneFootball

Knock-out Champions League nights have been a cause of concern for Barcelona fans in recent years, with the team often failing to perform under pressure. It has been a big issue for the team, bringing their mentality into question.

Last night, they had the first leg of the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, where they faced Borussia Dortmund. Hansi Flick’s team turned up on the day and convincingly beat their opponents 4-0 on the night.

A brace from Robert Lewandowski, along with goals from Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, saw the Catalan club put the tie to bed in the first leg itself, although one must not discount Dortmund’s threat when Barcelona make the trip to the Iduna Park.

With all this in mind, here are three talking points for Barcelona as they dismantled Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in the Champions League quarterfinals first leg at the Montjuic.

1. Unstoppable front three:

We are almost done with 3/4th of the season, and it looks like there is no stopping Barcelona’s front three this season. This was again on display against Borussia Dortmund as the trio combined to register 6 goal contributions [4 goals + 2 assists] on the night.

Lamine Yamal was on it from minute 1, terrorising the Dortmund defences and causing a lot of havoc with his creativity. He was heavily involved in Barcelona’s second and third goals on the night, providing the pre-assist on both occasions, and deservedly got the fourth goal with a beautiful finish.

Raphinha, after a few weeks of quiet performances, burst onto life on the biggest stage, much like he has done all season. He provided two assists for Barcelona’s second and fourth goals on the night and also stole Pau Cubarsi’s first goal to add one to his tally.

Finally, coming to the veteran of the trio – Robert Lewandowski. He might be polarizing on the pitch and often look completely clueless in large phases of the game, but even at the age of 36, there aren’t many who know how to find the back of the net when it matters than the Pole. Deservedly, he netted a brace last night.

2. Frenkie de Jong – what a performance!

Frenkie de Jong has played close to 250 games wearing the Red and Blue, but last night might have been his best performance in a Barcelona jersey yet. Wearing the captain’s armband, the Dutchman led from the front with his performance on the pitch.

Often suffering from an identity crisis during his time at Barcelona, different managers have struggled to profile the 27-year-old into a particular midfield role, due to his natural talent and flair to play in a number of roles in midfield.

However, much like most of his decisions so far at Barcelona, Hansi Flick has nailed the perfect role for Frenkie in Barcelona’s midfield, and with every passing week, he seems to be looking more and more comfortable playing as the pivot.

Against Borussia Dortmund last night, Frenkie did not put a foot wrong – both on and off the ball. On the ball, the quality has always been there, but the Dutchman excelled at disrupting opposition attacks by winning the ball back, one such instance directly leading to Barcelona’s third goal on the night.

3. Confident but not complacent

It is very easy to get carried away by what transpired last night, but at the end of the day, it is just the first leg, and Barcelona have a return leg to see out at Dortmund next week. Hansi Flick’s team will be confident, but they will have to be wary of getting complacent.

Flick seems to have changed the mentality of this team, and it will be absolutely no surprise to see Barcelona go to Iduna Park and take the game to Dortmund as they look to build on the 4-0 lead that they have over their opposition.

Going away to Dortmund and playing against the Yellow-Black army is never an easy proposition, but the good thing for Barcelona is that this team has already made this trip this season and emerged victorious, thanks to Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres.

It remains to be seen how the second leg plays out and with what mentality Barcelona take on Dortmund at their home. Let’s wait and see how it plays out in the upcoming week.