Barcelona 3-1 Benfica (4-1 agg): Match report & 3 talking points from comfortable Champions League win | OneFootball

Barcelona comfortably navigated the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Benfica to book their place in the next round of the competition.

A first-half double from Raphinha, either side of a Lamine Yamal screamer, were enough to inspire a 3-1 victory and set up a meeting with either Lille or Borussia Dortmund in the next round.

Barcelona started brightly and saw a handful of half-chances stopped comfortably by Anatoliy Trubin inside the first ten minutes, at which point they made the breakthrough.

Yamal's cross-cum-shot found Raphinha unmarked at the back post, and last week's match winner reacted well to volley into the back of the net.

However, the response from Benfica was immediate. A corner found Otamendi alone in the six-yard box, and his header was too strong for Wojciech Szczesny.

Yamal continued to call all sorts of problems for the Benfica defence and flexed his quality midway through the half with a delightful goal to restore Barcelona's advantage on the night. Cutting inside from the right, the teenage superstar unleashed a glorious curled effort which nestled perfectly into the side netting.

Vangelis Pavlidis crashed against the woodwork - a late offside flag ended the tension immediately - before Trubin repelled a powerful effort from Robert Lewandowski, but Barcelona would add a third shortly before the interval as Raphinha finished off a perfect counter.

The second half began with a close call for Barcelona. Fredrik Aursnes found the back of the net four minutes after the restart, but another quick offside flag ended the celebrations abruptly.

Barcelona should have had a fourth after an electric counter ended with a fizzing Jules Kounde cross. Lewandowski and Frenkie de Jong both lunged at the back post, but neither could make the connection needed for a tap-in.

Fortunately, it mattered little as Barcelona never looked at risk or relinquishing their lead and can now switch their attention to the next round.

Raphinha's Ballon d'Or charge continues

Raphinha was excellent / LLUIS GENE/GettyImages

There's a reason Hansi Flick believes Raphinha is a genuine contender for this year's Ballon d'Or.

No player has more goal involvements in the Champions League this season (15), with his two goals here taking his tally to 11 in the competition to go along with four assists. Those sorts of numbers simply cannot be ignored when it comes to the biggest individual prize around.

The Ballon d'Or winner could ultimately be decided by which team goes on to win the Champions League. Raphinha feels like a front-runner alongside Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, and if both sides end up securing domestic glory, Europe's biggest trophy could be all that separates the pair.

Another Champions League record for Yamal

Yamal scored a sensational goal / Soccrates Images/GettyImages

The individual honours keep on coming for Yamal, who became the youngest player in Champions League history to both score and assist in the same game in the competition.

Aged 17 years and 241 days, Yamal set up Raphinha's opener before curling home a sensational goal of his own in what was another dazzling performance from the teenager. He was such a problem that Benfica's efforts to stop him ultimately ended up ripping his boots.

Silva and Araujo were worked hard / JOSEP LAGO/GettyImages

Any teams looking for a new centre-back seem to find their names mentioned in stories involving Benfica duo Antonio Silva and Tomas Araujo, both of whom boast undeniable potential to become superstars of the game.

The pair of youngsters were given an incredibly tough test here. 21-year-old Araujo, playing at right-back, was torched by Raphinha all evening, while Silva, 22, failed to offer the necessary support to his back line as Benfica were mercilessly picked apart.

Plenty of scouts will have been watching this game, keen to see how the pair fared against high-level opposition, and the reports may not be favourable for two players likely to command significant transfer fees.

Check out the player ratings from Barcelona 3-1 Benfica here.