Barca and Paris-Saint Germain overcome Borussia Dortmund and Aston Villa, respectively, in narrow quarterfinal wins.
Barcelona and Paris-Saint Germain have booked their places in the semifinals of the Champions League but were heavily tested by Borussia Dortmund and Aston Villa, respectively, in the quarterfinal second legs.
Barca went through with a 5-3 aggregate win, despite losing 3-1 at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, with Serhou Guirassy hitting a hat-trick.
Holding a 4-0 lead after a dominant performance in Catalonia, the visitors 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 may have been different had Julian Brandt not been offside before scoring with 11 minutes remaining.
Despite losing their first competitive game in 2025, 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, considered the title favourites, will face either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich in the final four.
Clearly outclassed in the first leg, Dortmund will take inspiration from Tuesday’s performance, not least the goalscoring form of Guirassy.
The 29-year-old Guinean, who has spent most of his career bouncing between the first and second divisions in Germany and France, now has 13 Champions League goals this season, more than any other player.
“I’m proud of what we were able to do. Barcelona are a strong team but we fought until the death. We showed what we can do,” Guirassy told Amazon Prime.
Despite a big first-leg lead, coach Hansi Flick made good on his pre-match pledge to continue attacking, opting against resting any of his attacking trident of Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal or Raphinha.
With coach Niko Kovac admitting that Dortmund needed a “miracle” to reach the semis after the debacle in Catalonia, the hosts’ task got a little harder when captain and centre-back Emre Can was ruled out with injury just before the match.
But Dortmund raced out of the blocks, with Guirassy and strike partner Maximilian Beier going close inside the opening 10 minutes before Pascal Gross was the victim of a clumsy foul in the box by Wojciech Szczesny.
Guirassy stepped up to the spot and was nerveless, calmly unleashing a panenka to get the hosts under way.
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