Barcelona sneak through after Serhou Guirassy’s treble gives Dortmund hope | Champions League

In the end, it was comfortable enough for Barcelona, despite Serhou Guirassy’s hat-trick. They weren’t able to hold the ball in trademark fashion and command through possession but they always had clear water. There were times, though, when they were distinctly uneasy and, but for an own goal that came at just the right time for them, this might have been a very awkward evening.

It may ultimately have been a second leg negotiated without too much jeopardy, but it was a tie that raised doubts about them as potential champions. There is much to admire about Hansi Flick’s Spanish league leaders but theirs is a high-risk game and more precise opponents than Dortmund might have exposed them.

Barcelona’s 4-0 win at home last week had in effect ended the tie and, given how Dortmund’s season had gone, few at the club can have been too surprised. They lie eighth in the Bundesliga, the decision to replace Nuri Sahin as coach with Niko Kovac in February has yielded little obvious benefit. The result was that, at least in the buildup, the game had the feel of a mildly souped up friendly. Certainly the atmosphere in the Alter Markt was markedly convivial. As blue and garnet mingled with yellow and black outside the various pizzerias and pubs on a humid spring afternoon, there was a sense of wandering through the idealised world of an advert.

If there was jeopardy for Barcelona it was only in conceding early – which they did. Twice in the past eight years they’ve squandered three-goal first-leg leads to both Roma and Liverpool. They are a side with past traumas that might, conceivably, have been awoken before the fury of the Yellow Wall.

Even in the hours before kick-off Dortmund’s hopes had taken a blow as Carney Chukwuemeka, who has impressed in his loan spell despite limited time on the pitch, was ruled out with a thigh injury. With Emre Can also absent, that left Dortmund with a shortfall in the heart of midfield which perhaps in part explained the switch from last week’s 4-3-3 to 3-4-2-1. As it was, their extra bodies in the middle allowed them to pressure Barcelona much quicker than a week ago, and Flick’s side did not respond well.

The pace of Karim Adeyemi in an inside-left position caused huge problems and created a couple of half-chances even before he laid in Pascal Gross, who was tripped by Wojciech Szczesny. Guirassy converted the resulting penalty. At that point, Barça were unexpectedly ragged, clearly rattled both by Dortmund’s intensity and the atmosphere. The home side had five efforts in target within the opening 20 minutes.

The danger for Dortmund, and the hope for Barça, was that the home side would blow themselves out and, after Maximilian Beier had headed a Gross free-kick straight at Szczesny on the half hour, that was what happened in the first half and, without ever looking entirely assured, Barça had secured a measure of control by half-time.

The second half began with another Dortmund surge and a goal within four minutes, Guirassy heading his second of the night from close range. Dortmund briefly had hope but within five minutes it was gone, Fermin López’s cross thumped into his own net by Ramy Bensebaini. With that, the fire went out of Dortmund.

And yet they had done enough to raise doubts about Barça. Although it tended to be lost in the 4-0 scoreline, Dortmund had created chances last week: 13 of them, which is the big doubt over Barcelona as potential winners.

Like all Flick sides, they play with an extremely high line and that means they are vulnerable; their pressing only has to go fractionally awry for them to be extremely open, particularly to quick direct runners. That’s why they’ve conceded four this season in games against Osasuna, Benfica and Atlético. Two of those examples have come in the 24-match unbeaten run going back to the beginning of the year on which they came into this game.

Even having restored a three-goal aggregate lead, Barça were not entirely home and dry. Guirassy swept in his third with 14 minutes remaining after fine work from the substitute Julien Duranville, and that awoke a further spate of Barça nerves, especially when Julian Brandt almost immediately had a goal ruled out for offside.

As it turned out, Barcelona’s first-leg lead was too much for Dortmund to overturn but whether Inter or Bayern come through Wednesday’s quarter, they will look at the way Barça struggled to deal with the press, and the swathes of space behind their defensive line, and see an opportunity.