Barcelona repeated their victory over Benfica, defeating them 3-1 in the second leg of the round of 16 on Tuesday evening at the Estadio Olímpico Luís Companys, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Barcelona will now face the winner of the match between Lille and Borussia Dortmund in the next round.
According to information from the Spanish newspaper ‘‘El Nacional‘‘, the German coach was extremely pleased with Barcelona’s impressive victory over Benfica and praised Barcelona’s duo, Lamine Yamal and Rafinha, stating, “Don’t waste your time looking for the best player in the world, because I already have the best duo in my team.”
Lamine and Rafinha performed exceptionally well against Benfica, leading the Catalan team to the next round.
The newspaper indicated that the German coach singled out Barcelona’s talented star, Lamine Yamal, for praise after his legendary performance against Benfica, telling the player after the match, “You enchanted the whole world tonight. What a player you are.” Despite the impressive victory and qualification, Flick did not hide his anger at Polish star Robert Lewandowski, urging the player to focus on the upcoming period, saying, “At this level, I will regretfully have to remove you from the starting lineup.”
In an unexpected development, Barcelona president Joan Laporta went down to the team’s dressing room after the match to congratulate the players and coach on the victory and qualification.
Laporta surprised everyone by going specifically to Barcelona’s amazing star, Alejandro Balde, to congratulate him on his historic performance against Benfica, saying, “You outdid yourself tonight. Congratulations.”