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Barcelona winger Raphinha stole the show and broke Lionel Messi's record as the team crushed Borussia Dortmund in a dominating 4-0 win. The Champions League quarter-final first leg clash took place at the Lluis Companys earlier today (April 9), where the German giants failed to make headway.
Raphinha was easily one of the best players on the pitch as he scored one and assisted another on the night. His performance equaled Lionel Messi’s long-standing club record for the most goal contributions in a single Champions League campaign (via Ginga Bonito Hub on X).
With his performance, Raphinha now has 12 goals and seven assists in 11 games in this season’s tournament. This has put him level on goal involvements with Messi’s total of 19 in the 2011-12 season. The legendary Argentine playmaker racked up 14 goals and provided five assists in 11 games that season.
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Raphinha broke the deadlock mid-way through the first half (25'), pouncing on a goal-bound effort from Pau Cubarsi. He later created an assist for Robert Lewandowski, who scored the second goal in the 49th minute. The Polish marksman put the game out of Dortmund’s reach (66'), before Lamine Yamal finished off the evening with a fourth (77').
The victory propels Barcelona towards their first semi-final since 2019. Raphinha’s form has been crucial to that push, with the Brazilian now the top scorer in this year’s UEFA Champions League. Barca will take a commanding advantage to the second leg in Germany next week (April 15), where they will need to clinch their spot in the next round.
Barcelona goalkeeper reflects on bittersweet relationship with Lionel Messi
Marc-Andre ter Stegen has opened up about his relationship with Lionel Messi at Barcelona. The German goalkeeper, who joined the Catalan club in 2014, was a teammate of the legendary playmaker, who eventually left Camp Nou in 2021, when the club could not retain him.
Speaking to Bild, Ter Stegen has revealed how, even with all of that success on the pitch, the two did not always get along. The duo played in 250 matches together, winning four LaLiga titles and the Champions League in 2015, but they were sometimes at loggerheads (via ESPN):
"The good or the bad moments? We had them both [laughs]. Leo is a special character, who is at this [high] level because he's motivated by a lot of things that we don't see.
"There were moments when things didn't work between us because he was annoyed with me and I was annoyed with him."
Lionel Messi left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain, where he reunited with Neymar and played alongside Sergio Ramos. However, after two years in the French capital, he moved across the pond to join Inter Miami in 2023.
