Barcelona confirm favouritism to win Champions League with dominance over Borussia | OneFootball

Expectations placed on Barcelona's performance against yet another qualified opponent in the UEFA Champions League knockout phase were confirmed and Borussia Dortmund were the victims. Hansi Flick's side beat the Germans 4-0 to virtually seal their place in the semi-finals by dominating proceedings.

From literally the first minute, Barcelona took the lead with a strong attacking pressure on their opponents using their characteristic structure: with Lamine Yamal on the right and Raphinha on the left. As a result, goalkeeper Gregor Kobel had to work hard in the first half to prevent an even worse scoreline.

On the other hand, the fact of reaching the Champions League semi-finals with a job to do at an early stage was decisive against Borussia Dortmund, who were unable to get their counter-attacks going and were too far away from crossing the halfway line. Unable to find alternatives, they were dominated by their opponents throughout.

TOPSHOT-FBL-EUR-C1-BARCELONA-BORUSSIA DORTMUND | LLUIS GENE/GettyImages

Raphinha opened the scoring in the 25th minute, prompting Barcelona to slow down their attacks in order to exploit the spaces provided by fast counter-attacks. Dortmund even tried to change their attitude in the second half, but ended up conceding a goal from Robert Lewandowski just after the break. In minute 65', the Pole scored again against one of the teams with the most goals in their history.

In the final minutes of the match, Borussia Dortmund were contemplating whether to stay back and keep the three-goal deficit or go for it. The Germans then tried to control possession so as not to allow Barça any more chances, but there was still time for Raphinha to make another break at speed and Yamal to tap home a cross to make it 4-0.

What did the defeat mean for Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund?

Despite the reaction in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund have failed in practically every major challenge this season, requiring the club to stabilize their new ideas of play before the start of the Club World Cup, where they have preached an accessible group to reach the round of 16 at least.

Barcelona, on the other hand, will certainly go into the game thinking of snatching a win at Signal Iduna Park, but they could lower their intensity during the match in order to save themselves ahead of the decisive clashes against Real Madrid in LaLiga and the Copa del Rey.