Barcelona's 3-1 victory over Benfica began with a minute of silence for Carles Minarro, the team's doctor who passed away at the weekend, and ended with applause from fans for Raphinha to win the Ballon d'Or.
The Brazilian has scored twice to help Barca reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the second consecutive year after failing to qualify for the group stage in the previous two years. This is the latest sign that coach Hansi Flick has turned them into a highly regarded team in the European arena once again.
However, Raphinha is not the only threat for the Catalan team. Lamine Yamal scored the other goal, a great individual effort after Nicolas Otamendi leveled the score for Benfica. In the end, Barcelona beat Benfica 4-1 after two matches and will meet Dortmund or Lille in the quarter-finals.
"I said before the match that we wanted to remember Carles. After what happened, I think winning is a good thing for him. Carles has always been with us. He will always have a position in our team," Flick said after the match.
At 17 years and 241 days, Yamal became the second youngest player to score in the knockout round of the Champions League. Bojan Krkic, the youngest player and currently a member of Barca's coaching staff, was also watching from the stands.
This was Yamal's 12th goal of the season in all competitions with 17 assists. These are impressive numbers but nothing compared to Raphinha. The former Leeds United player currently has 11 goals in 10 matches in the Champions League.
In total, Raphinha has scored 46 goals in all competitions. His goals have also come in big matches: 3 goals in 2 matches against Real Madrid, a hat-trick against Bayern Munich, 1 goal against Dortmund and now 5 goals in 3 matches against Benfica.
That impressive form has overshadowed 20 goals Raphinha scored in his first two seasons with Barca. It is no surprise that fans began to call out Raphinha's name in the race for the Ballon d'Or.
Meanwhile, Pedri had another great performance, winning the MVP title at the end of the match when the Blaugrana showed control through constant pressure.
Last week, Pedri was present everywhere on the pitch as Barcelona, with just over 10 men left, won 1-0 in Lisbon. That happened again this week. An excellent defense in the 20th minute created the first cheers of "Pedri". 6 minutes later, Pedri's name echoed throughout the stadium, this time after an extremely beautiful pass.
Barcelona are currently leading La Liga with one match less than Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. They are also competing in the Copa del Rey semi-finals and are currently in the round of 8 strongest teams in the Champions League. They have won the Spanish Super Cup and are unbeaten in 17 matches since the beginning of 2025.
"Regarding the chance to win the Champions League? If Raphinha says we are title contenders, it would be good for them to be confident in what we are doing and what we can achieve. But my job is to stay calm and think about what comes next," Flick said.
