Barcelona are through to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals with a 5-3 aggregate win, despite losing 3-1 at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday with Serhou Guirassy hitting a hat-trick, while Paris Saint-Germain survived a second-half onslaught to beat Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate and reach the semi-finals, despite a 3-2 defeat.
Holding a 4-0 lead after a dominant performance in Catalonia, Barcelona were made to sweat as Dortmund and Guirassy nearly pulled off a stunning turnaround. Guirassy put Dortmund in front with a Panenka from the spot with 11 minutes gone and headed them two goals clear early in the second half.
Dortmund sensed a sensation, but Barcelona hit back, with Fermin Lopez forcing Ramy Bensebaini into an own-goal with just more than half an hour remaining. Guirassy reignited Dortmund’s belief with a third on the 76th-minute mark and the final stages might have been different had Julian Brandt not been offside before scoring with 11 minutes remaining.
Photo: AFP
Despite losing their first competitive game this year, Barcelona are through to the semis, keeping their dream of a remarkable treble alive, 10 years after last completing the feat by winning the Champions League in Berlin.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick praised Dortmund’s performance, adding that his side “need to focus on the positive, not the negatives.”
“What the team has shown in the past few weeks is incredible. We’ve got a lot ahead of us this season. We’re a step further, but we’re not even close to the end,” the German said.
Lopez said the experience would make the Catalans stronger.
“Dortmund have a really good team, you saw that today. Last week we made them suffer at our place. Today we suffered here, but in the end we were able to limit the damage,” the 21-year-old said. “We’re now in the semi-finals and can draw a lot of strength from this game today because it was a big task.”
Barcelona, considered title favorites, are to face either Inter or Bayern Munich in the final four.
In Birmingham, French champions Paris Saint-Germain were cruising toward the last four when fullbacks Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes struck in the first 27 minutes to add to their 3-1 first-leg lead.
Youri Tielemans pulled a goal back for the English side before halftime and two goals in two minutes from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa transformed the tie early in the second period.
PSG were thankful to goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for keeping Unai Emery’s men at bay and preventing another famous collapse in the Champions League knockout stages.
“At the end, we got them suffering like we did,” Emery said. “To get this level is the next step forward that I want to try to build with Aston Villa.”
The match started on the wrong note, when the Europa League anthem blared out around Villa Park instead of the iconic Champions League song, leaving Aston Villa and PSG players looking quizzically at each other.
With Prince William watching on, Konsa made a facepalm gesture as he and Tielemans tried to contain their laughter, while PSG’s Fabian Ruiz and Ousmane Dembele exchanged puzzled glances.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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