FC Barcelona 4–0 Borussia Dortmund Player Ratings: Barcelona Thrash Dortmund in the First Leg of UCL Semi-Finals

FC Barcelona comfortably beat Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, thanks to goals from Raphinha, Lamine Yamal, and a brace from Lewandowski. The hope for a turnaround is slim for Borussia Dortmund at this stage, as a four goal lead turnover is incredibly hard. The return leg will be played on 15th April at Signal Iduna Park.

Other than the long term absentees, Barcelona entered the game with their usual eleven. On the other hand, the runner ups of the previous season Borussia Dortmund were missing the services of Marcel Sabitzer, Nico Schlotterbeck and Pascal Gross, with the first two missing out due to an injury, whilst the third serving a suspension. The absence of Schlotterbeck was huge, as the centreback was on a good run of form.

Barcelona started the Champions League game all guns blazing from the opening minute, suffocating Dortmund completely. Dortmund looked nervous in the beginning, but they slowly grew into the game, trying to hit the hosts on the break. After Adeyemi’s silly challenge on Kounde, Barcelona took advantage of the situation, as Fermin Lopez whipped the ball into the box, where Inigo Martinez headed it towards Cubarsi as he tried to flick it with the outside of his boot into the box.

While he thought he got his name on the scoresheet, Raphinha got the final touch and tapped it in to give the Blaugrana the lead. Dortmund got some good chances at the end of the first half, but they struggled to put them away. Finally, at the halfway mark, Barcelona went into the dressing room with a single goal lead.

While it was Dortmund who opened the half with their attack, it was Barcelona who quickly doubled the lead as Yamal put in an excellent cross to Raphinha, who nodded it towards Lewandowski, as he gently headed it in expertly.

With two goals down, one would expect Dortmund to try to find a response, but they decided to sit much deeper, hoping not to concede another goal. Meanwhile, Barcelona started to have fun, passing the ball around effortlessly and progressing the ball forward. As a result, they added a third goal for the night, as a fantastic team move from the players ended with a fantastic cross from Fermin Lopez and finished off imperiously by Lewandowski.

The Blaugrana continued to dominate as the dangerous trio combined again on a fantastic counter-attack, this time Lamine Yamal finishing things off. While Dortmund thought they had a moment of joy as Maxi Beier put the ball in the back of the net, it was rightfully ruled offside. In the end, it was arguably the easiest fixture Barcelona had and will be thinking about their opponents in the semi-finals already.

For their next fixture, Barcelona will be travelling to Leganes away whilst Borussia Dortmund will prepare for the Der Klassiker match versus Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

Here are the FC Barcelona vs Borussia Dortmund player ratings.

FC Barcelona Player Ratings

GK- Wojciech Szczesny – 6/10

While Borussia Dortmund made threatening runs, they did not hit many shots in the first half, thus rendering his services less valuable. But, whenever needed, he stepped in and made some good saves.

LB- Alex Balde – 6.5/10

He was strong defensively and decent going forward, as he assisted the frontline players on some occasions. His chemistry with Raphinha on the left flank played a big role in Barcelona dominating.

CB- Inigo Martinez – 6.5/10

A solid display from the veteran, as he did well to cut the attacks off cleverly, reading the game well. He played a key role in the opening goal of the night for his side.

CB- Pau Cubarsi – 7/10

Some of the passes he pulled off were extraordinary, which were pivotal to the dominating style of play Barcelona plays. He did extremely well and should have gotten his name on the scoresheet. However, he was fortunate that an error from him in the box did not lead to an equaliser.

RB- Jules Kounde – 7/10

An excellent performance defensively, backing it up with an equally good run forward. He did not give any space to the Dortmund wide attackers, locking them up comfortably.

CM- Frenkie de Jong – 7/10

He provided balance to the midfield, connecting the defensive structure to the attackers, thus helping his side maintain the rhythm. However, he got into the books of the referee in the first half.

CM- Pedri – 8/10

He was the heart of the midfield as usual, stringing passes from the deep, assisting the other attackers well during the buildup play.

CM- Fermin Lopez – 8/10

He worked hard tirelessly in the midfield and his set-piece delivery was one of the reasons why the home side opened their account early in first half. He himself could have gotten his name on the scoresheet, he deseverdly got an assist.

LW- Raphinha – 9/10

Despite scoring one of the easiest goals in his career, it was an electric performance on the left flank from, toying with defenders and linking up excellently with his teammates, getting an assist too.

ST- Robert Lewandowski – 9/10

While he got on to the end of some chances, his finishes were met with some excellent saves from Kobel. But, they could not deny him for long as he got on to the scoresheet in the second half, continuing to torment Dortmund.

RW- Lamine Yamal – 9/10

He was a menace as usual, playing with such conviction, getting into great positions, and was pivotal in breaking the deadlock for the hosts. He played a key role in almost all of the goals and rightfully got a goal in his bag.

SUB- Gavi – 6/10

The young midfielder entered the pitch with around 20 minutes to go to see the game out.

SUB- Ronald Araujo – NA

The centreback entered the pitch to provide additional physicality, shore up the defense, and close the game out.

SUB- Ferran Torres – NA

He was subbed in place of Robert Lewandowski to provide the starters’ rest and complete the game.

SUB- Eric Garcia – NA

The versatile came in as Flick decided to opt for a change and provide rest to Pedri.

SUB – Ansu Fati – NA

The forgotten wonderkid entered with minutes to go through the motions.

Manager- Hansi Flick – 9/10

Playing against his former boss, the student showed how far he has come. It felt like it was one of their easiest games of the season, as they comfortably breezed past without breaking a sweat. If they continue the way they are doing now, they can comfortably win not just the tie, but the whole tournament.

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Borussia Dortmund Player Ratings

GK- Gregor Kobel – 5/10

Despite conceding, he pulled off some excellent saves that denied sure-shot goal-scoring chances. But, in the end, it was too many attacks for him to parry away.

RB- Ramy Bensebaini- 5/10

He was given the task to deal with Lamine Yamal, which he struggled to do so. He failed to contribute anything going forward too, which is usually his forte.

CB- Waldemar Anton – 5.5/10

There was a lot on his plate to deal with as the front three of Barcelona together were on song. But the experienced center-back did well to hold himself together, especially when put under pressure.

CB- Emre Can – 5.5/10

The captain for the team, he held himself well to deal with one of the best attacks in Europe.

LB- Julian Ryerson – 5/10

An inconsistent overall performance where he struggled to provide impetus going forward and was frail defensively.

CM- Felix Nmecha – 4.5/10

He struggled to establish the midfield dominance, as he was overrun constantly. But, in some occasions he did well to assist the other attackers near the box.

CM- Carney Chukwuemeka – 6/10

The young midfielder, despite having little to low experience, did well to win the ball back in multiple instances. However, he could have done well to progress the ball forward.

CAM- Julian Brandt – 5.5/10

He showed his skill on the ball with some excellent passes, but they were very few and very far away, which was not enough for his side to dominate the game.

LW- Jamie Gittens – 5.5/10

A hard worker on the flank, where he did well to win the ball on some occasions. But his threat going forward was almost non-existent

ST- Serhou Guirassy – 5.5/10

While he looked like a threat on some occasions, he could have timed some of his runs and finished well. Alas, a good chunk of the opportunities Dortmund created went to waste.

RW- Karim Adeyemi – 5/10

He took an unnecessary yellow card trying to flick the ball over Kounde’s head, thus playing the remainder of his game over cautiously. He was rightfully subbed off by the manager as a precautionary measure.

SUB- Maximilian Beier – 5/10

The attacker entered the pitch at the start of the second half to replace Adeyemi and assist the other attackers to turn the tie around.

SUB- Salih Özcan – 5/10

With the midfield struggling, he was put in to restore the dominance, but he struggled to do so.

SUB- Gio Reyna – 5.5/10

The attacking midfielder came on to the pitch to make things happen, but he failed to do so.

SUB- Julian Duranville – NA

The young attacker entered the pitch to see the remainder of the game out.

SUB- Niklas Sule – NA

The centreback entered the pitch to mitigate the damage that was caused, but it was too late.

Manager- Niko Kovac – 4/10

While it is one of the hardest fixtures of their season, his side looked very passive throughout the game. Despite that, with the opportunities they created, they should have scored at least one goal. It will be a very hard mountain to climb, but with home advantage, they can try something.

The Sportsdunia Player of the Match goes to FC Barcelona’s Raphinha.

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