Football
Raphinha leads Barcelona to the Champions League quarter finals with a brace against Benfica
Olly Taliku has worked with highly respected sports and gambling websites where he has produced hundreds of articles, as well as being published with Burton Albion and Chesterfield FC. At Burton Olly worked closely alongside the women's team, producing mainly matchday content including reports and interviews, while at Chesterfield he worked in a similar role but with the academy side, as well as some first team content. He also has experience as an accredited Premier League and EFL writer for Prost International where he worked during the 2021/22 season to produce matchday content as an on location reporter. Olly specialises in football as well as long form SEO content plus news, tips and betting but also produces content on basketball, baseball and American football.
Get to know Oliver Taliku betterPublished11 Mar 2025
Watch Champions League last 16 highlights here, as Barcelona cruised past Benfica to qualify for the quarter finals following a 3-1 win at the Camp Nou.
Raphinha leads Barcelona charge into Champions League last eight
Barcelona broke the deadlock early on at the Camp Nou, with their two majestic wingers linking up to break the deadlock after just 10 minutes.
Following some dazzling footwork from Lamine Yamal on the right, the 17-year-old played a perfect ball to the back post with Raphinha lying in wait to score in the third consecutive game against Benfica this year.
It certainly didn’t take Benfica long to respond on the road, as the Portuguese side were able to equalise in the second leg just over a minute later. Nicolas Otamendi was able to power home a corner from close range, with his header silencing the stadium almost immediately.
Despite Benfica’s resilience, the hosts were ahead again before half an hour had been played thanks to a stunning Yamal strike from the edge of the box which marked his first career Champions League goal in the knockout phase.
Barca had a third goal and one foot in the quarter final just before half time following a scintillating counter attack and despite some initial confusion from the referee, Raphinha had his second of the game confirmed right on the half time whistle.
The Brazilian’s second was his 27th in all competitions this season and his 11th in the Champions League – making him the top scorer in this year’s tournament.
The second half continued just as the first half ended, with chance after chance falling to Barcelona who were unable to convert.
Barca’s biggest chance in the half fell to Frenkie de Jong about an hour in, with Jules Kounde finding his teammate at the back post thanks to a lovely ball into the box. De Jong wasn’t able to convert from close range though and Barcelona’s advantage remained at two goals.
Benfica threw everything at their opponents in the second half but it was never enough against a strong Barcelona defence that was able to hold on without conceding in the second half.
WATCH: Barcelona 3-1 Benfica Champions League highlights
Barcelona will now face off against either Lille or Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League quarter final, with the Spanish giants currently 5/2 favourites to win the competition as per the best football betting sites in the UK.