Raphinha’s Apology and Barcelona’s Commanding Victory Over Dortmund
In a thrilling Champions League quarterfinal match, Raphinha found himself in an unusual position. After opening the scoring in Barcelona‘s 4-0 rout against Borussia Dortmund at the Olympic Stadium, he had to apologize to his teammate Pau Cubarsí for what some might call a “goal theft.” The Brazilian winger slid in to push Cubarsí’s shot, which was already on its way over the line, into the back of the net in the 25th minute. This act of instinctive play led to a nervous wait as VAR reviewed whether Raphinha was onside when Cubarsí prodded the ball toward the goal after latching on to Iñigo Martínez‘s knockdown.
Raphinha, reflecting on the moment, told reporters, “I was worried on the first goal if I was offside, it’s good that it was given. I apologized to Cubarsí. He told me no worries, he’d count it as an assist. I thought the ball was going wide; it was an instinctive decision.”
Despite the initial drama, Raphinha’s performance was nothing short of spectacular. It was his 12th goal in the Champions League this season, more than any other player in the competition. He also set up goals for Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal, pushing his assist tally to seven. In total, he has 19 goal contributions in the tournament for Barça this season, matching Lionel Messi‘s best return for the club in a single European campaign.
Raphinha expressed his joy in playing alongside top-level players, saying, “I love playing with top-level players. We know each other really well on the pitch and that is important. We’re achieving spectacular numbers and we hope we keep going like this.”
Barcelona’s dominance was evident as they scored four goals or more for the 21st time in 48 matches this season. Lewandowski, a key player in this victory, now boasts 40 goals in all competitions this term and is just one shy of reaching 100 for Barça. Meanwhile, Yamal has netted 14 goals, further showcasing the team’s offensive prowess.
The win over Dortmund leaves Barça on the verge of a first semifinal since 2019, with a potential matchup against either Bayern Munich or Inter Milan. However, coach Hansi Flick cautioned against complacency, stating, “It’s still not won. You never know what can happen in football. It can be a crazy sport.”
Flick emphasized the importance of maintaining focus, saying, “We have to play like we played today, do what we know. But first we turn our attention to Leganés on Saturday. Then we will speak about Dortmund. We also have a good position in LaLiga [four points clear with eight games to go] and we want to defend it. So we want to beat Leganés. That’s the focus now.”
On the other side, Dortmund had their chances to make the game closer going into the second leg. Serhou Guirassy missed a hat trick of chances before halftime, and Wojciech Szczęsny was forced into a couple of late saves. Coach Niko Kovač acknowledged the challenges ahead, admitting, “We were deserved losers today. At this level, we made too many errors which Barça took advantage of with their quality. What annoys me is we invited them to counterattack by losing the ball. It’s going to be really difficult in the second leg, as you know.”
- Kovač remains optimistic but realistic, stating, “I am always optimistic but I am also realistic. It’s a heavy loss. Our chances of getting through are small. We will analyze what happened, try and play a good game against Bayern Munich [in the Bundesliga] this weekend and then focus on the second leg.”
- He added, “We know it will be really difficult, but we have to maintain a glimmer of hope. Without that glimmer, it would be impossible.”
Originally Written by: Sam Marsden,Moises Llorens
