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.
Dortmund sliced Barcelona open repeatedly without reward until half-time but made it count four minutes into the second half, with Guirassy heading in a Ramy Bensebaini assist from a corner.
With Dortmund’s 81,355-strong Westfalenstadion smelling blood, Barcelona’s familiar response was to send their attack down the right, and the move paid off almost immediately.
After Yamal’s cross was half-cleared, Fermin Lopez found himself in the teenager’s channel, whipping a pass towards Lewandowski, which Bensebaini hit into his own net.
With Barcelona content to control possession as the clock wound down, Guirassy relit the hosts’ hopes when he scored his third in the final quarter of an hour, blasting in from close range after some delightful dribbling from teenage winger Julian Duranville.
The home fans erupted when Brandt scored three minutes later, but the midfielder was offside, allowing Barcelona a breather.
Barcelona managed to hold on, despite waves of energetic Dortmund attacks in the final stages, to remain on track for the treble.
PSG made to sweat by Aston Villa
PSG kept alive their dream of a first Champions League title by squeezing past Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate after a thrilling second leg of their quarterfinal, which the English side won 3-2.
Ahead 3-1 from the first leg, PSG appeared to have sealed the contest within the first half-hour as their marauding fullbacks, Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, scored from two flowing counterattacks to stun the Villa Park crowd.
But Youri Tielemans revived hope with a 34th-minute deflected goal before Villa stunned the visitors early in the second half, with two goals in two minutes from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa.
Villa poured forward, drawing a string of outstanding saves from PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to preserve the aggregate win and enable his side to move into a semifinal against either Real Madrid or Arsenal.
PSG were hot favourites to win the quarterfinal, given their first-leg advantage and recent form, including sealing a fourth straight Ligue 1 title and reaching the final of the French Cup.
But Villa were not lacking belief themselves, especially at home where they were on a 17-match unbeaten run in all competitions. The hosts came out flying, nearly taking the lead from a corner in an early flurry of attacks.
However, PSG struck first blood in the 11th minute when Hakimi stroked the ball in after Villa’s usually ultra-reliable goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, pushed it into his path.
Sixteen minutes later, Mendes curled in Villa’s second goal off the post at the end of another fast-flowing counterattack.
Tielemans’s first-half goal appeared unlikely to swing the tie but it inspired Villa to storm out in the second half, with McGinn letting fly from outside the box to score in the 55th minute, helped by a small deflection.
Then Konza struck Villa’s third on the night after being set up with a brilliant dribble from Marcus Rashford.
One more goal would have put Villa level on aggregate but Donnarumma defied Rashford, Tielemans and then substitute Marco Asensio during a nerve-racking finale.
“Very proud of the boys, of what we’ve done tonight,” said Konza. “Obviously, the two goals at the start killed us. But we showed great belief, great character to get back into the game. But unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.”
Courtesy: Al Jazeera
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
