Barcelona Edge Dortmund, PSG made a thrilling victory over Aston Villa

Shilpa Rajan April 24, 2025

Barcelona, after a comfortable first-leg win, have advanced to the last four of the UEFA Champions League 2024-25 alongside PSG. Following their win at home in the first leg, both teams travelled for the second leg. These two had a comfortable lead, but cup games can produce a lot of upsets. These two lost their away games but somehow managed to make it to the semi-final.

Guirassy scores hat-trick but Barcelona prevails

Barcelona were excellent at home against Borussia Dortmund. Hansi Flick’s side managed to register four goals against their German opponents. They had a comfortable lead and already had one foot in the next round.

However, Dortmund were not going down easily. Barcelona dominated possession in the first half, but Dortmund created more chances. The team in yellow attempted 10 shots, with seven on target. Barcelona only managed a single shot, and that was off target. The home team was awarded a penalty in the 11^th minute.

Sehrou Guirassy made no mistake from the spot. Dortmund headed into the second half with a slight advantage, but they had a mountain to climb in the second half. It was another good start to the second half. Guirassy added his second of the night in the 49^th minute. Dortmund were now much closer and had the momentum.

However, Barcelona did not in a plan to play an extra 30 minutes. They created an attack of their own. Fermin Lopez tried to find someone in the box. He found Ramy Bensebaini, who deflected the ball into his own net. The score was 2-1 at the 54^th minute mark.

Guirassy went on to score his first hat-trick in the Champions League. His third goal came a bit late in the 76^th minute. This was Guirassy’s 13^th goal of the UCL season. Dortmund once again created more chances than Barcelona but were unable to cover the first match deficit.

PSG prevails in five-goal thriller

PSG led 3-1 against Aston Villa. They travelled to Villa Park to face Unai Emery’s men. PSG took no time to take the lead. Barcola made the run down the left, and his cross led to a miscommunication in the box. Achraf Hakimi slotted the ball past Martinez to make it 1-0. In the 27^th minute, Nuno Mendes scored the second of the night. PSG had a four-goal advantage.

Aston Villa were not going down easily. They were looking better than in the first leg. Youri Tielemans brought them back into the game in the 34^th minute. Villa came with more intent in the second half. John McGinn, who created the first goal, was on the scoring end of the second goal.

The second goal came in the 55^th minute, and two minutes later, Villa took the lead. Ezri Konsa got to the end of Marcus Rashford’s cross to make it 3-2. Villa needed just one goal to take the game into extra time. They had a chance towards the end when Ian Maatsen’s shot was cleared off the line by Pacho. PSG advanced to the last four despite losing the match.