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Barcelona 4-1 Copenhagen: Yamal leads second-half turnaround to seal top-eight spot
Barcelona are automatically through to the last 16 of the Champions League, but needed to bide their time before getting past Copenhagen.
Barcelona came from a goal behind to book their spot in the Champions League last 16, scoring four times in the second half to beat Copenhagen 4-1 at Camp Nou on Wednesday.
Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Marcus Rashford were all on target for Hansi Flick's side, who finished fifth in the league phase standings.
Copenhagen stunned the Camp Nou into silence in the fourth minute when Mohamed Elyounoussi slipped in Viktor Dadason, who coolly slotted past Joan Garcia.
Lewandowski came close to restoring parity six minutes later after capitalising on a mistake from Junnosuke Suzuki, but he was unable to find a way past Dominik Kotarski.
However, Barcelona were frustrated in the first half and unable to find a way past their opponents, but they needed just three minutes after the break to haul themselves level.
Dani Olmo's defence-splitting pass sent Yamal in behind the Copenhagen defence, with the Spaniard squaring the ball for Lewandowski to tuck home from six yards out.
And the turnaround was complete on the hour when Yamal saw his shot deflect off Pantelis Hatzidiakos and into the net, but Barcelona were not done there.
Raphinha tucked away a penalty after Lewandowski was fouled inside the box before Rashford added further gloss to the scoreline with a brilliant 85th-minute free-kick.
Data Debrief: Yamal helps turn the tables for Barca
At half-time, Barcelona were also as low as 13th in the 36-team standings after going a goal behind once again in the Champions League. They have now trailed at the break in four of their last five Champions League matches, more often than they did in their first 17 matches in the competition under Flick (three).
However, the Catalans have won more points from losing positions than any other side in the current edition (10), and their turnaround was led by superstar Yamal.
Indeed, Yamal has now assisted eight goals for Barcelona in the Champions League, which is now the most by a teenage player in the competition's history, overtaking Kylian Mbappe (seven for Paris Saint-Germain).
The 18-year-old also scored and assisted in a Champions League game for the third time in his career, the joint-most by a teenager in the competition, along with Mbappe (three times for PSG).
Barcelona, who will face PSG, Newcastle United, Monaco or Qarabag in the last 16, were worthy of their win here, having registered an expected goals (xG) total of 3.05 from their 28 shots compared to Copenhagen's 1.06 from their six attempts.













