Sid Lowe’s report is in. Here it is. Thanks for reading this MBM.
This tie was over the minute the outrageous teenage talent Lamine Yamal sashayed in from the right and effortlessly flicked a curler into the top-left corner. Yamal, who at 17 years and 241 days has become the youngest player to provide both a goal and an assist in the same Champions League game, was borderline unplayable at times. Two-goal Raphinha was on song too, during a scintillating first-half performance which could easily have seen Barcelona score double the three goals they actually managed. Benfica didn’t even play particularly badly, they were just no match for their star-studded hosts. The Catalan giants will play Borussia Dortmund or Lille in the quarters; they’ll fancy their chances of going all the way, and on tonight’s form, why not?
