Champions League: Barcelona in Semis Despite Loss

The UEFA Champions League 2025 quarterfinals delivered a thrilling second-leg encounter between Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona at Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund. Despite its star striker Serhou Guirassy's heroic hat-trick, Dortmund fell short, and Barcelona advanced to the semifinals with a 5-3 aggregate victory. It had won 4-0 the first leg at home.

Guirassy opened the scoring in the 11th minute with a Panenka penalty after Pascal Gross was fouled by Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. Guirassy doubled Dortmund's lead in the 49th minute with a header from Ramy Bensebaini's assist.

Barcelona responded with a goal by Bensebaini in the 54th minute. Guirassy completed his hat-trick in the 76th minute with a powerful close-range shot, becoming the Champions League's top scorer this season with 13 goals. Dortmund's Julian Brandt found the net in the 79th minute, but the goal was disallowed for offside. Barcelona's 5-3 score in aggregate was good enough for it to make it to the semis.

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Barcelona coach Hansi Flick praised Dortmund’s performance and said his side “need to focus on the positives, 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." 

Barcelona will face either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.

Tough luck for Villa

The Aston Villa and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) contest at Villa Park, Birmingham, was no less thrilling. Despite a spirited performance, Aston Villa fell short, and PSG advanced to the semifinals with a 5-4 aggregate victory. It had won the last week's home encounter 3-1.

PSG took an early lead in the 11th minute through Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes doubled PSG's advantage in the 26th minute with a stunning long-range strike, putting the visitors in control. Aston Villa's Youri Tielemans pulled one back in the 33rd minute with a well-placed shot from the edge of the box, reigniting hopes for the home side.

John McGinn equalised for Villa in the 54th minute with a powerful header from a corner, levelling the score on the night. Ezri Konsa gave Villa the lead in the 57th minute with a close-range finish, making it 3-2 and setting up a tense finale.

Despite Villa's relentless pressure, PSG's defence, especially its goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma,  held firm, and the aggregate score of 5-4 ensured its progression to the semifinals. PSG will face the winner of the Arsenal vs. Real Madrid quarterfinal in the semi-finals.

Both the winners last night did not progress further, and it shows the importance of winning big in home encounters like Barcelona and PSG did last week.

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