Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain are via to the Champions League semifinals regardless of struggling defeats in Tuesday’s quarterfinal second legs.
Barca arrived in Germany with a commanding 4-0 first-leg lead over final season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund. But the Catalans got a scare in a 3-1 loss – their first defeat of the 12 months – as Serhou Guirassy struck a hat trick for the hosts.
Barcelona’s solely purpose got here through a Ramy Bensebaini personal purpose, sufficient to seal a 5-3 mixture win and a spot within the ultimate 4.
PSG took a 2-0 lead at Aston Villa, however the hosts roared again for a 3-2 victory. Villa got here up one purpose in need of leveling the tie, as PSG superior with a 5-4 mixture win.
PSG will face the winner of Arsenal vs. Real Madrid, whereas Barcelona will meet Inter Milan or Bayern Munich within the semifinals. Arsenal and Inter maintain first-leg benefits heading into Wednesday’s second legs.
Guirassy’s hat trick in useless
Hopes had been excessive at Signal Iduna Park when Guirassy broke the impasse within the eleventh minute, giving Dortmund loads of time to chase a miracle.
Pascal Gross was fouled within the field by Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, and Dortmund had been awarded a penalty, which Guirassy transformed.
That marked his eleventh Champions League purpose of the season – a brand new membership report within the competitors, surpassing the ten set by Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland.
The hosts got here out firing within the second half, forcing Szczesny into two very good saves throughout a double probability from Karim Adeyemi and Gross.
From the ensuing nook, nevertheless, the keeper couldn’t cease Guirassy’s header from discovering the online within the forty ninth minute.
But Dortmund’s hopes light rapidly as Barcelona pulled one again simply 5 minutes later when Bensebaini deflected Fermin Lopez’s low cross into his personal purpose.
Guirassy accomplished his hat trick within the 76th after latching onto a poor clearance from Ronald Araújo.
Dortmund nonetheless had time to dream of a comeback, however finally fell quick and missed the possibility to succeed in a second straight Champions League ultimate.
This season’s ultimate might be performed in Munich – the identical metropolis the place Dortmund lifted their solely Champions League title in 1997.
“I’m proud of our performance. We showed what we can do. It’s sad that our journey is over,” Guirassy mentioned.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick admitted his group “didn’t play at our greatest right now.
“But that was also down to Dortmund, who did really well. What the team has achieved in recent weeks is phenomenal. We’re now one step further, but we’re still a long way from the end.”
Villa’s comeback falls quick
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez pushed Bradley Barcola’s low cross into the trail of Achraf Hakimi, who discovered the left nook to present PSG the opener within the eleventh minute.
It appeared just like the Parisians had one foot within the semifinals when Nuno Mendes doubled the lead within the twenty seventh.
But Villa refused to again down. Youri Tielemans’s effort took a deflection earlier than bouncing in for the hosts’ first purpose within the thirty fourth.
Captain John McGinn added a second within the fifty fifth with a shocking strike from distance. Two minutes later, Ezri Konsa transformed from a Marcus Rashford go to finish the comeback.
Villa pushed for another purpose to power additional time, however PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma made a number of huge saves to maintain them at bay.
“He made some excellent saves. We showed we can compete at the highest level, and we want to do it again next season,” Konsa informed Prime Video.
“I’m very proud of the boys and what we did. We showed great belief and character to get back into it. We won the second leg, but it wasn’t enough,” he added.
Source: www.dailysabah.com