Barça enchants and inspires hope in Europe (3-1)

BarcelonaA team is making a firm step through Europe, winning over fans and scaring rivals. A Barça hurricane that sends its opponents flying through the air as if they were paper toys. In an ode to offensive football, Barça got rid of Benfica by thrashing them at an Olímpic Lluís Companys stadium that had become a schoolyard where Lamine Yamal did his thing. Between the youngster from Mataró, Raphinha and Pedri they did what they wanted.

It's an optimistic Barça that doesn't know how to be cautious. It's not part of that team's DNA. It didn't matter that they won the first leg 0-1 in Lisbon. The Barcelona fans don't like it if their team is fearful and just defends. And Flick doesn't like it either. He wants his men to be protagonists and always look to score goals. Barça's commandments say the following. You won't stop scoring goals if you can. You won't defend the whole game. You will never stop looking for beauty. Instead of protecting the result of the first leg, Barça wanted to settle the tie before the break. Said and done, as easy as that.

But no, it is not easy. It is not easy to face teams full of talent like the Portuguese. And to turn a piece of rival like Benfica into a small team, as some tribes did with the leaders of their rivals, turned into a war trophy. It is not easy to face long seasons, and even less so after the death of Dr. Carlos Miñarro, a trusted person of all the footballers. The players knew that the best tribute to Miñarro was to play like angels. It was to move forward. In football, as in life, the ball always ends up in front. The game starts again and life goes on, even if it is sad.

Without Cubarsí, it would be Araujo who would play alongside Iñigo Martínez. The team did not present any surprises, with Dani Olmo behind a Lewandowski who was unable to join in the celebration of his teammates, missing the opportunities he had. Benfica, accompanied by more than 3,000 Portuguese in the stands – some of them not very presentable – tried to stand up to them, but they knew they were inferior. Especially every time Lamine got the ball on the wing, tormenting Dahl and Araujo. One of his moves would end with the first goal, the work of a Raphinha who has specialised in damaging Benfica. But in just 60 seconds Otamendi equalised with a header from a corner in which Araujo fell asleep. A serious error that in the end did no harm, since Lamine did not want to say goodbye to the Champions League. He likes this competition, in the genius of Mataró. So he created a goal that everyone in the stadium will remember for years to come, outwitting Araujo before inventing a delicate shot into the top corner. Lamine, as if it were easy, calculated in a second the trajectory and the force needed to make the ball float towards the net, like a trained dove carrying a message.

And although some say that Lamine can't score, in the big games he scores. Benfica, shaken, would concede the third goal before half-time on a counterattack in which Balde crossed the entire pitch like Usain Bolt before passing the ball to the top scorer in this edition of the Champions League, Raphinha. The tie was already decided. And Benfica's most veteran defenders, like Otamendi, looked at Lamine with unfriendly faces, wondering what they could do to stop him. They fouled him, said things to him and tried to intimidate him: it was no use. Barça attacked whenever they wanted, revolving around an increasingly mature and complete Pedri. The Canary Islander defends when necessary, stretches the team in attack and provides quality, surrounded by two clever players like Olmo and a De Jong who has gradually been forgiven for the sins of the past. The Dutchman's game was very complete.

With the score at 3-1, the second half was a formality of sorts. The Portuguese counterattacked a few times, but were almost always caught offside, as Araujo has improved his way of defending high up front. Flick kept up the high level by making changes to a team in which almost all the players are having a good moment of play. Against Benfica, perhaps the weakest was Lewandowski, replaced by Ferran. Because De Jong was everywhere, becoming Pedri's great ally in hiding the ball from a frustrated Benfica. The Portuguese seemed like those tourists who were previously fooled by the tricksters on the Rambla, looking without luck for a ball. And Barça seems like an end-of-year trip that is crossing borders between laughter, jokes and optimism. The adventure in the Champions League continues for a team that is playing better with each passing week. It is impossible not to root for them.