Barcelona beat Borussia Dortmund in a thrilling 3-2 draw in the Champions League on Wednesday night, with all five goals coming in the second-half - but whilst it was a superb night for Lamine Yamal, others such as Jamie Gittens and Robert Lewandowski flattered to deceive.
It was a frantic start to the game, with Barcelona almost opening the scoring twice in the opening five minutes of the tie as low crosses were drilled across the area - though Gregor Kobel would have been relieved to have seen those efforts flash across the face of goal.
Lamine Yamal then produced a superb ball across the face of goal with the outside of his boot as he continued his rapid rise, but Raphinha couldn't steer home - and with the youngster having a couple of efforts on goal, he meant business.
Dortmund weren't without their moments; Marcel Sabitzer could find the goal after some superb work from the ever-impressive Julien Duranville, and Giovanni Reyna looped a shot over the bar - but the first-half drew to a close without any real clear-cut chances.
The second half started with Serhou Guirassy - who had been ruled offside for a clear chance at the end of the first half - tapping home, but he suffered the same fate. And he was made to pay when Raphinha opened the scoring, racing onto a through ball after Remy Bensebaini had played him onside, continuing his superb campaign.
The lead didn't last long though; Pau Cubarsi nudged Guirassy in the area on the hour, conceding a penalty in the process - and the striker amended his errors by slamming home.
But after some fresh substitutions from Hansi Flick, it was Ferran Torres who turned home after a save from Kobel was parried out to him just four yards from goal - though the fun wasn't done there, when Pascal Groß squared for Guirassy after Dortmund breached the high Barcelona line to tap into an empty net.
But again, the lead didn't last for long. From their own corner, Dortmund gave the ball away and from there, the rapid Barcelona attack countered - with Yamal feeding Torres through for his second as he drilled past Kobel. A frantic night after a tepid first half - but it's the Spaniards who are going home happy.
Borussia Dortmund Statistics Barcelona
2 Shots on target 8
7 Shots off target 3
45 Possession (%) 55
9 Fouls 10
4 Yellow cards 2
2 Corners 3
Match Highlights
Full match highlights to follow...
Borussia Dortmund Player Ratings
Serhou Guirassy in action for Borussia Dortmund
Gregor Kobel - 7/10
Called into action early on, but the Swiss stopper was alert. Barcelona are arguably the best attacking side in Europe at the moment, but once his defensive line pushed up, those problems subsided to an extent. Great save from Olmo in the second half.
Julian Ryerson - 6/10
A sturdy performance by the Norwegian. He limited Raphinha to little on the left flank, winning most of his duels and acting as a dependable member for Nuri Sahin's side. Could have scored higher if he wasn't subbed at half-time.
Emre Can - 6/10
An unconventional centre-back role for the former Liverpool star tonight, having only featured there four times this season. But he did well against tough opponents, and certainly earned his stripes.
Nico Schlotterbeck - 6/10
Dealt well with most crosses and the Germany international, for all of Barcelona's promise, didn't really have much to do barring the first ten minutes.
Ramy Bensebaini - 5/10
It was always going to be a tough task against Yamal, but the Algerian handled it well after a tricky start. However, he didn't step up early enough which allowed Raphinha to race through and bag the opener and was walking a tightrope on a yellow card. Booked.
Marcel Sabitzer - 5/10
The former Manchester United man had two chances early on - one being offside in the end - but he had to do better. His experience and nous in a young Dortmund team is needed, but he could have stood up better to be counted by his teammates. Booked.
Sabitzer celebrates
Felix Nmecha - 6/10
Did well at driving into space when Dortmund turned the ball over, but that final ball was slightly lacking at times. Promising performance from the former Manchester City academy man. Booked.
Julien Duranville - 7/10
With Barcelona boasting Yamal, Dortmund can equally be proud of their 18-year-old Belgian. From minute one, he gave Alejandro Balde the runaround and his turn of pace was remarkable. Unlucky not to grab an assist for Sabitzer early on.
Gio Reyna - 5/10
Poor effort on the half-hour mark and you can't help but feel that he was quite absent in this game.
Jamie Gittens - 5/10
Big things were expected of the Englishman after some promising performances in recent weeks, but he was slightly rushed on the ball on the big occasion. There's no doubt that there is potential there, and Dortmund is one of the best places to unlock that, but it wasn't to be.
Serhou Guirassy - 7/10
Thought he'd scored but for a great save from Pena, but the goals just keep flowing this season with 12 goals in 17 games. A buried penalty and a tapped ball home after some strong running means his shooting boots continue to be worn at the Signal Iduna Park.
SUB - Yan Couto - 6/10
Superb ball through for Groß just after Barcelona had taken the lead. Another former Manchester City man who is excelling for BVB.
SUB - Pascal Groß - 6/10
The former Brighton man made a superb run that was found by Couto, and his clever flick saw Guirassy with time and space to grab a second equaliser.
SUB - Donyell Malen - 5/10
Brought on to spark some creativity into the game but the Dutchman couldn't quite get into the swing of things.
Barcelona Player Ratings
Lamine Yamal
Inaki Pena - 6/10
Didn't have much to do, but he was reliable when called upon with some smart sweeper keeper antics. Couldn't do much about the penalty.
Jules Kounde - 8/10
A great performance from the Frenchman. He kept Gittens quiet, and almost scored himself with a shot in the first half - before crossing for Barcelona's second just moments after their triple change.
Pau Cubarsi - 5/10
A solid first half for the youngster but he had nowhere to hide after shoving Gittens in the area. That will be put down to inexperience, but his teammates won't be happy after only just taking the lead. Booked.
Inigo Martinez - 6/10
Can consider himself lucky not to have conceded a penalty for what looked to be a tug on Guirassy towards the end of the first half. Bags of experience probably aided him from going further, and he kept Dortmund out on an individual basis.
Alejandro Balde - 6/10
Duranville had him on his toes throughout the first half, and it wasn't quite the easy ride that he thought it might have been - but Balde kept him from creating anything in a goalscoring sense as Barcelona continued their strong run.
Marc Casado - 6/10
Did enough to thwart Reyna in the centre of the park, and the 21-year-old did well in just his 24th appearance for the Blaugrana.
Pedri - 6/10
Some sloppy touches meant that he couldn't quite manipulate the game in the fashion that he would have wanted, and Dortmund scoring so early after both goals meant that the midfield protection wasn't quite there.
Pedri
Lamine Yamal - 8/10
Yamal has continued the form he showed last season when he burst onto the scene with Barcelona and Spain - and that was no different tonight. Always involved, he was incredibly unlucky not to register an assist with a superb trivela pass that Raphinha couldn't quite tuck away - though Torres did him a favour with his drilled finish. He's some player, even at 17 years of age.
Dani Olmo - 7/10
The creative spark in Barcelona's team, Olmo doesn't quite have the same 'wow factor' that his winger teammates do - but it's his flicks, positioning and awareness that make this team tick. You could argue he's slightly wasted in the middle, but there's not much to say except it works.
Raphinha - 6/10
The former Leeds United man didn't have his best performance after what has undoubtedly been the best campaign of his career so far. He couldn't turn home Yamal's superb cross and was generally Barcelona's most disappointing attacker before the interval - but a well-taken goal continued his goalscoring spree.
Robert Lewandowski - 5/10
There was a real lack of service on offer for the Polish legend on his return to Dortmund. He was all but absent and had little say in the build-up to most attacks.
SUB - Ferran Torres - 7/10
Came on for Lewandowski in a triple change to try and do more than the Polish striker - and he certainly did that with a brace. In the right place at the right time to put Barcelona 2-1 up, whilst some great running and a drilled finish found him bagging a brace.
SUB - Fermin Lopez - 5/10
Added legs in the second half as Barcelona chased a winner.
SUB - Frenkie de Jong - 5/10
Brought on for Raphinha as Flick looked for a bit more protection for Dortmund's counter-attacks.
SUB - Pau Victor - 2/10
Brought on to ensure the win in stoppage time.
Man of the Match
Jules Kounde
Jules Kounde (Barcelona)
It was a toss-up between Yamal, Torres and Kounde for the Man of the Match award - but Kounde's strong defensive performance just edges this.
The France international kept Gittens to an absolute minimum on the flanks, with Dortmund's attacks largely coming from the right-hand side, though he also did his fair share of attacking. Almost scoring in the first-half, the former Sevilla star was incisive with his passing, composed on the ball, and his cross in the second half found Torres who had only just come on to give Barcelona the lead for the second time.
He's had a few critics since his move to Catalonia but he certainly answered them on the night, with Barcelona going second in the Champions League standings.
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Statistics courtesy of LiveScore. Correct as of 11-12-24.