Barcelona won their fourth consecutive league stage game in this season’s UEFA Champions League and cemented their place in the top eight thanks to a comfortable 3-0 win over Brest on Tuesday night Montjuïc Olympic Stadium. Barça were by far the better team all evening, but had to wait 65 minutes to finally build up a comfortable lead, but Hansi Flick’s men ultimately secured a clear home win, ending their small lull and earning an automatic place a little closer in the round of 16.

FIRST HALF

Barça needed just 10 minutes to establish their lead when Robert Lewandowski was fouled in the penalty area by Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot and scored the 100th Champions League goal of his career from the penalty spot Blaugrana in front.

The home team were clearly superior from the start, did not allow the visitors to counterattack, showed excellent intensity when winning the ball when in possession and at the same time played with good speed and precision in the passing game.

The only problem in the last 35 minutes was the final third: Barça always missed the last pass to really unlock the Brest defense and often failed to take really good chances by making poor decisions or failing to complete simple passes, who would certainly have taken the lead to more goals.

Brest also managed to avoid conceding the second goal through a few crucial interventions from their defenders and a big save or two from Bizot, and the visitors were somehow still alive as we reached the end of the quarter.

The half-time whistle ended a half in which Barça took an early lead and controlled the rest of the period, but failed to capitalize on that dominance and only managed a one-goal lead at the break. They played quite well after 45 minutes but needed to improve in the final third to secure the three points in the second half.

SECOND HALF

It was more of the same at the start of the second half, as Barça maintained their territorial advantage and continued to play some nice things until the final third, but they either squandered promising attacks with stupid mistakes or missed big chances – including a Dani Olmo try inside penalty area cleared off the line – and the score remained 1-0 as we reached the hour mark.

But the Catalans continued to press and gave Brest neither space nor time to breathe. Their pressure finally paid off when Gerard Martín played a great ball into the box to find Dani Olmo, who weaved through a couple of defenders and beat the goalkeeper to finally double Barça’s lead.

The last 25 minutes were all about the Blaugranawho mastered the game very well and gave Brest no chances. They finally scored their third goal in stoppage time when Alejandro Balde assisted Lewandowski, who doubled his tally with a sublime finish, and Barça raced to the finish line until the final whistle, securing all three points and conceding a goal.

The result doesn’t tell the whole story of the game as Barça completely dominated from start to finish and on another night they could have easily scored five or six goals, but they weren’t efficient enough in the penalty area to add to the score. But it was still a quality win and an excellent performance, and Barça moved a step closer to an automatic place in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The two-game winning streak is over and Barça now have one more home game at the weekend to get back to winning ways LaLiga and completely restore the good mood. Well done, guys!

Barcelona: Pena; Kounde, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Martín (Balde 78′); Casadó, Pedri (De Jong 88′); Raphinha, Olmo (Gavi 68′), Fermín (Torre 78′); Lewandowski

Goals: Lewandowski (penalty 10′, 90+2′), Olmo (66′)

Brest: Bizot; Lala, Chardonnet, Le Cardinal, Haidara; Camara (Faivre 70′), Fernandes (Martin 78′), Magnetti; Doumbia (Pereira-Lage 70′), Ajorque (Del Castillo 78′), Sima (Baldé 59′)

Goals: None