Borussia Dortmund's U19s lost 4-1 to Barcelona in Spain as they were eliminated from the UEFA Youth League at the Round of 16 stage. The youngsters from the fabled La Masia academy were too strong for Benjamin Hoffmann's charges, who valiantly defended a 1-0 lead until shortly before the interval but were outplayed by their superior Catalan hosts early in the second period.

The visitors began brightly at the Mini Estadi, located in the vicinity of the much larger Nou Camp, and took an early lead. Dominik Wanner won the ball in midfield and drove at speed towards the Barcelona box, where he latched on to an Etienne Amenyido pass before firing powerfully past shot-stopper Sergi Puig to leave the hosts reeling. BVB, meanwhile, defended effectively and with many bodies behind the ball, closing down the spaces to stop the Spaniards settling into their passing rhythm and trying to hit them on the counter. All too often, though, they lacked the composure and precision to bring their attacks to a successful conclusion.

Borussia's defence eventually broken down

It took some time before Barça started finding the gaps in a well-marshalled Borussia back line. In the 27th minute Luca Kilian intervened as Ruiz fired goalbound after rounding BVB custodian Eike Bansen, before Dzenis Burnic thwarted the Catalans' next opportunity after Kilian had been dispossessed in midfield in the 32nd minute. With four minutes until the break, though, Bansen was finally beaten when Barcelona's powerful full-back Cucu got the better of Felix Passlack before playing in Ruiz, who skilfully chipped it across for Carles Perez to volley home the leveller.

The Catalans were beginning to get into their stride and exploded into life at the beginning of the second period. With their goal under constant fire, Borussia eventually fell 2-1 behind when Abel Ruiz nodded home after a looping header from Busquets had come back off the crossbar. The visitors resolutely pushed forward in response but were caught napping: Jordi Mboula slalomed around Beste, Pieper and Kilian before being denied by Bansen but the rebound fell to substitute Lee, who slotted home to double the hosts' advantage just after the hour mark. Mboula had been kept in check by Niklas Beste during the opening 45 minutes but sprang into life after Barcelona had taken the lead and rounded off a spectacular solo run in the 69th minute of the match by scoring his sixth goal in as many matches in the UEFA Youth League.

Flags flying and applause from the stands

The Black and Yellows, though, were not giving in without a fight and showed remarkable team spirit as they battled to reduce the margin of defeat in the final 20 minutes, supported by flags and applause from the stands. Alexander Laukart came close in the 71st minute, as did Dominik Wanner (79), who also struck the post shortly before the end of normal time. But the score remained 4-1 to the Catalans and Borussia were eliminated from the competition.

BVB will now turn their entire attention to their Bundesliga campaign, which resumes on Sunday when they play host to table-toppers Schalke 04 in Brackel (kick-off 11:00 CET).

BVB: Basen – Schwermann, Kilian, Pieper (Laukart, 69), Beste – Sechelmann, Burnic (Yilma, 88) – Passlack, Larsen, Wanner - Amenyido (Kyeremateng, 46)
Wilfried Wittke