12 December 2024
Substitute Ferran Torres scored twice to lead Barcelona to a 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund in the German club's home on Wednesday in the sixth round of the Champions League.
Barcelona raised its score to 15 points out of a possible 18 after suffering its only loss in the first round against Monaco. On the other hand, this is the second loss for Dortmund after its fall to Real Madrid, noting that it achieved four wins in matches against Club Brugge of Belgium, Celtic of Scotland, Sturm Graz of Austria, and Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia.
Barcelona's German coach Hansi Flick fielded a purely attacking lineup consisting of former Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski, Dani Olmo, Lamine Yamal, and Brazilian Raphinha.
In contrast, Dortmund relied on their Guinean top scorer Serhou Guirassy and their young English striker Jaime Gittens who has been extraordinary for them this season.
The Catalan team was the better team at the beginning of the match and had the first chance when Yamal passed a perfect ball inside the area which was followed by Rafinha but went wide of the post (14). Dortmund responded with an attempt by the Austrian Marcel Sabitzer which went over the bar (18).
Barcelona succeeded in opening the scoring from a quick counterattack started by Olmo who passed a wonderful forward ball through the middle towards Rafinha who broke the offside trap and shot a low ball with his left foot into the net (53).
But the guests did not enjoy the lead for long because the referee awarded a penalty kick after Barcelona's young defender Pau Cubarsi pushed Guirassy inside the area which the latter successfully took (60).
Substitute Ferran Torres succeeded in giving Barcelona the lead when another substitute, Fermin Lopez, shot a powerful ball that the Dortmund goalkeeper deflected, and it fell to Torres, who followed it from close range into the net (75). Once again, the Catalan team did not enjoy its lead for long, as Dortmund equalized again with another goal by Guirassy (78). The tie lasted for a mere 7 minutes, as Ferran Torres completed his brace with a goal in the 85th minute to secure the 3 points and 2nd spot in the UEFA Champions League standings for his club.
