Substitute Ferran Torres scored twice including an 85th-minute winner as Barcelona earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday to move to the brink of qualification.
In a pulsating five-goal second half, Torres struck twice in 10 minutes after coming on in the 71st minute to lift Barcelona to 15 points in second place with two games remaining in the league phase.
Dortmund twice came from a goal down with Serhou Guirassy scoring both its goals but it could not do it a third time after Torres grabbed his second after being teed up by a Lamine Yamal pass.
The Germans dropped to ninth place in the standings on 12 points, with the top eight earning automatic qualification to the round of 16.
Barcelona bossed possession from the start and captain Raphinha and top-scorer Robert Lewandowski had early chances.
The hosts responded with a chance of their own through Marcel Sabitzer but it was Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel who was kept busy in a largely one-sided first half with the visitors enjoying close to 70 per cent possession.
Dortmund looked sharper after the break and Guirassy put the ball in the net in the 50th minute before the effort was ruled out for offside.
There was nothing wrong, however, when Raphinha latched on to a superb Dani Olmo pass to finish off a quick move in the 53rd minute and put Barcelona in the driving seat with his sixth goal of the competition.
The hosts levelled with Guirassy’s well-taken penalty on the hour after the Guinea international was brought down in the box before Dortmund’s Kobel came to the rescue once more, stopping another Olmo shot.
He was beaten in the 75th when Torres, who had come on four minutes earlier, slotted in on the rebound after Kobel had punched a Frenkie de Jong volley into his path.
Guirassy hit back three minutes later when the Barca defence was caught napping but it would not be enough to earn a point as Torres scored once more after a superb through ball from Yamal.
There was still more bad news for injury-plagued Dortmund after defender Nico Schlotterbeck turned his ankle following a header in the last move of the game and had to be treated on the pitch after the final whistle.
Stuttgart hammers five goals past Young Boys
VfB Stuttgart came back from a goal down to win 5-1 and deal Swiss side Young Boys a sixth defeat in six Champions League games on Wednesday.
The last-placed visitors had taken the lead in the sixth minute when Lukasz Lakomy scored a long-range stunner but the hosts equalised in the 25th through Angelo Stiller.
Enzo Millot made it 2-1 in the 53rd with a shot from the centre of the box, with a long VAR check before the goal was given.
Germany midfielder Chris Fuhrich put the game out of reach with a third goal fired in right-footed from outside the box in the 61st and Josha Vagnoman made it 4-1 on the volley.
Second-half substitute Yannik Keitel scored his first goal for Stuttgart from outside the area in the 75th as the hosts made it 5-1.
Stuttgart, which lost its previous match 1-5 to Red Star Belgrade after scoring first, ended the evening in 26th place in the table and increased its Champions League points tally to seven.
Young Boys was without Congolese striker Meschack Elia after the death of his son, announced by the club earlier on Wednesday.
A minute’s silence was held before the match kicked off and Lakomy ran to the bench to collect Elia’s number 15 shirt, holding it up for the cameras with his teammates around him, after scoring.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com