BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona‘s 3-1 win against Benfica at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday started with a minute of silence for Carles Miñarro, the team doctor who died over the weekend, and ended with fans chanting for Raphinha to win the Ballon d’Or.
The Brazilian scored twice as Barça reached the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals for the second successive year after failing to get out of the group stage in the two preceding years. It is the latest sign that Hansi Flick has turned them into a team to be taken seriously on the European stage again.
Raphinha is not their only threat, though. Lamine Yamal netted the other goal, a brilliant individual effort after Nicolás Otamendi had briefly leveled for Benfica on the night, as Barça advanced 4-1 on aggregate. They will meet either Borussia Dortmund or Lille in the next round.
“I said before the match we wanted to honor the memory of Carles,” Flick said in the postgame news conference.
“After what happened, I think it’s good to win for him. Carles is always with us. It’s like that. He will always have a place in our team.”
Miñarro had been at the club for eight years and had joined the first team’s staff last summer. He died at the team hotel Saturday, with his cause of death not yet officially announced and the LaLiga game against Osasuna that night was postponed.
The majority of Barça’s squad attended a wake for Miñarro on Monday, and his funeral took place on the morning of the Benfica game. A delegation from the club, led by president Joan Laporta and injured goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, attended.
As a mark of respect, the Spain, Catalonia and Barça flags at the Olympic Stadium flew at half-staff and there was a minute of silence before kickoff. Then Raphinha, Yamal and their teammates set about doing what they have done better than any other team this season: score goals.
“We came into this game even more determined to win after the passing of Carles,” Raphinha told reporters after the game.
That quickly became evident. Yamal’s quick feet turned two defenders inside out to set up Raphinha for an 11th-minute opener. Otamendi’s header off a corner leveled the score, but Yamal responded emphatically. Picking up the ball on the right flank, he came inside and whipped an unstoppable strike inside the post with his devilishly good left foot. It had similarities with the goal he scored for Spain against France in the semifinals at last summer’s European Championship.
“It has been a complicated few days after what happened on Saturday,” Pedri told reporters. “We want to send all our support to Carles’ family and friends. We will try and win everything for him.”
Winning everything would be some tribute. It is plausible, too. Barça lead LaLiga with a game in hand, are in the semifinal of the Copa del Rey and are now in the last eight of the Champions League. They have already won the Spanish Supercopa and are unbeaten in 17 games since the start of 2025.
Dani Olmo‘s fit again; Frenkie de Jong‘s recovered his confidence; Balde is in fine form; Jules Koundé is consistent; Pau Cubarsí, Ronald Araújo and Iñigo Martínez are dependable center-back options; and Wojciech Szczęsny has not tasted defeat since coming into the side in January.
The mounting evidence made it impossible for Raphinha to deny they are “candidates to win every trophy” this season, although Flick is refusing to get carried away.
“I think it’s good that the players think about that,” he said of Raphinha’s comments. “It shows they have the confidence and they believe in what we are doing. But my job is to stay calm and think about the next match.”
