Borussia Dortmund 3-1 FC Barcelona: Through to the semis!
FC Barcelona have been beaten for the first time in 2025, but if they were going to lose any game then this was the time to do it. Thanks to Barça’s spectacular 4-0 victory in the first leg at the Estadi Olímpic, Dortmund needed a near-miracle to turn this tie around, although there were moments when there was a very real concern that they might just get it.
Having already taken the lead through an early penalty, they went 2-0 up just after the break before Barça pulled one back courtesy of an own goal.
Dortmund then scored again, setting up a nervy finish for the Catalans, but they held on against the persistent home side and could ultimately celebrate a 5-3 win on aggregate and a place in the Champions League semi-finals for the first time after half a decade of disappointments.
That semi-final will be against either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich, who meet at the Giuseppe Mezza on Wednesday night, with the Italians in the driving seat after winning 2-1 at the Allianz Arena.
Dortmund come out fighting
Right from the start, it was Dortmund who were bringing most of the intensity to the game. Understandably so. There’s a big difference between a team that needs to score four goals and a team that just needs to make sure they don’t concede that many.
But the early pressure saw the Germans take the lead, a warning to Barça that this tie was by no means won yet. Wojciech Szczesny clipped Pascal Groß in the area, but as the German had arrived from an offside position, it looked like the Pole had got away with it.
But no. VAR showed that Groß was onside, Serhou Guirassy converted the penalty and Barça were trailing after just 11 minutes.
Deeper trouble
In scenes reminiscent of the night of Barça’s famous comeback against PSG after losing the first leg by the same score, Westfalenstadion was absolutely buzzing. The home fans clearly believed something was brewing, and plenty of chances to put further pressure on Barça would follow, including one goal disallowed for offside and some key saves by Szczesny, while the Catalans’ own danger moments were few and far between, Jules Kounde coming closest in the first half.
As long as things stayed this way, every minute that passed made a Dortmund comeback less and less likely, but the alarm bells truly started ringing four minutes after the restart when a furious series of German attacks ended with Guirassy heading in his and Borussia’s second.
Holding on
Barça needed to switch on, and the second goal did just that. Moments after conceding for the second time, Fermín López was charging down the right wing and his cross was deflected by Ramy Bensebaini into his own net.
A worrying moment had been averted. Dortmund were back to needing three, and just as importantly, the goal put a check on their dangerously rising morale.
The adrenaline had gone from Dortmund’s game but after 20 rather stale minutes a scrappy rebound landed straight at Guirassy’s feet and the Bundesliga side were two goals up again, and it could have been three had they not had a second goal disallowed for offside.
Semi-finalists
Barça still had a reasonably safe two-goal cushion, but as Dortmund threw everything forward they had to dig deep to make sure the situation didn’t get any worse. Pau Cubarsí was particularly excelling at the back, and as the minutes ticked down victory on the night looked less and less likely, but a place in the semi-finals very much did.