Barcelona hang on to beat Dortmund in Champions League thriller
Ferran Torres scored a brace as Barcelona beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in Matchday 6 of the UEFA Champions League on Thursday morning (AEDT) at Signal Iduna Park.
After a quiet first half, the game burst to life in the 52nd minute when Barca captain Raphinha fired home to put his side ahead, only for Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy to convert from the spot at the hour mark to level the scores.
Coming off the bench midway through the second half, Torres pounced on a rebound to reclaim the visitors’ lead in the 75th minute, but the in-form Guirassy equalised for BVB just three minutes later.
In the 85th minute, Spanish teenager Lamine Yamal put Torres through on goal with a sublime pass, allowing his international teammate to steer it past Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
The Blaugrana held on to secure a crucial win that elevated them to second on the table with 15 points, three points shy of leaders Liverpool.
Meanwhile, defeat condemned the hosts to ninth place with 12 points.
Nevertheless, Dortmund still have a realistic chance of making the top eight and securing automatic qualification into the last 16 in their remaining games against Bologna and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Barcelona can also secure smooth passage into the knockout stages in their final games against Benfica and Atalanta.
Visiting manager Hansi Flick praised his side’s performance against a difficult opponent.
“We can be very happy with what we did, as we believed,” he said after the game.
“The first half was wonderful and in the second half, when they scored, we were stable.
“Dortmund played very well. They are fantastic players who have a very high tempo, but we did well.
“The goals happened because we made mistakes. We can always improve, but today I have to say congratulations to the team because they did great.”
Dortmund manager Nuri Sahin was less pleased, urging his team to win games rather than just playing well.
“I don’t want to hear that we’re playing good games,” he said.
“I want us to win these games, and we will win them.
“We need to learn this as quickly as possible. I have a young team, we have talent, we have quality, but I want winners!”
Barcelona will be in domestic action this weekend, and online bookmakers are paying -625 for the Liga leaders to beat Leganes (+1550) at home.
Meanwhile, Dortmund are -227.27 favourites at Marantelli Bet to beat Hoffenheim (+550) in Bundesliga action.
