In The Zone: Barcelona's attacking trident too much for Dortmund
Thursday, April 10, 2025
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UEFA Technical Observers Avram Grant and Steve Cooper examine the brilliance of Barcelona's front three against Borussia Dortmund.
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With their 4-0 triumph over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night, Barcelona delivered a strong statement – not least about the quality of their exciting attacking trident.
The front three of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal were outstanding as Hansi Flick's side took a sizeable step towards the Champions League semi-finals while extending their unbeaten run in 2025 to 23 matches.
The following analysis, brought to you by FedEx, will highlight just how well the Barcelona trio work together. In the words of UEFA Technical Observer Avram Grant: "The three all have different movement and complement each other. Raphinha goes behind, Lewandowski is a typical No9 and Yamal with the ball at his feet does all the right things."
The first clip of the video above shows Raphinha at his explosive best as he combines with Pedri, racing down the inside-left channel before cutting the ball back for a Lewandowski attempt on goal. The mobility and movement of the Brazilian caught the eye of UEFA Technical Observer Steve Cooper who described him as a "free spirit" for the way he came inside and moved into No10 positions.
Raphinha ended the game with the most runs behind (39) of any player as well as the most key passes (three). He scored the opening goal and delivered two assists – the first of which features in the second clip above.
It comes in an attack in which each of the front trio play their part. Yamal steps inside and produces a sublime dinked ball to the back post. Raphinha, who has raced forward to get into the box, heads the ball back across goal. And there, at the far post Lewandowski applies the finishing touch.
For Lewandowski, this was the first of two goals against his old club and the Polish striker now has 40 in all competitions this term, including 11 in the Champions League. According to Grant, he "played like an old-fashioned and a modern No9" at the same time, with his "pressing, movement and finishing".
Cooper added: "Lewandowski is a brilliant orthodox No9. He stays central and doesn't leave the width of the five-metre box. He's there to receive passes if needed but is ready to get into scoring positions."
'His forward passing is incredible'
All three forwards figure also in the final clip, which showcases the counterattack that brought Barcelona's third goal.
There are plenty of details to note, starting with how both Yamal and Lewandowski stay forward when Dortmund attack. By keeping players up the pitch, Barcelona were able to counter with such menace and it is no coincidence their second, third and fourth goals all came from transitions. Indeed, Barcelona's quick and direct attacking has been a feature of their play throughout this season, as previously highlighted after their January draw with Atalanta.
The next point is the perfectly measured pass by Yamal, which he threads between two defenders to Fermín López who pulls the ball across to Lewandowski to strike. "He is a brilliant passer," Cooper said of the teenager. "His forward passing is incredible. When he gets inside, his passing ability is as good as his dribbling ability.
"All the players know he can make the pass, so they make the runs," added Cooper. "His forward passing today was as good as anything you see from a midfield player. There is a variety with the passes – he can play ground passes, he can play through passes and also [as seen with the second goal] the aerial passes."
As for Grant, he pointed to the astonishing maturity that the 17-year-old showed in his pass selection. "His decision-making is very, very mature. I never saw an 18-year-old with this decision-making... and he's not even 18!"
One last detail to mention from this final clip is the running of Raphinha, who is seen sprinting upfield once more – and in this instance, his movement is key to drawing defenders and creating the space for Lewandowski to score.
The final word, though, goes to Player of the Match Lewandowski himself. He now has 99 goals for Barcelona though he was quick to stress the teamwork essential to the success of the Spanish league leaders' front three.
"We play like a team, that is it the most important thing," he told Movistar Plus. "Whether it's me or Lamine or Rapha scoring one, two, three goals, in the end we're scoring for the club, for Barcelona. We always want to play together. We have a good understanding not only on the pitch but off it too. We have a lot of potential in this team."
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