Barcelona and Paris-Saint Germain have qualified to Champions League semi-finals but had to shake off spirited Borussia Dortmund and Aston Villa, respectively, in the second legs of the quarter-finals.
Barca won 5-3 on aggregate, despite going down 3-1 at Dortmund on Tuesday, with Serhou Guirassy hitting a hat-trick. The Spanish giants had a 4-0 lead after a dominant performance at their home but were stretched as Dortmund nearly pulled off a stunning turnaround.
Guirassy put Dortmund ahead on the night with a Panenka penalty on 11 minutes and then headed them two goals ahead early in the second half. But Barcelona struck through as Ramy Bensebaini scored an own goal with just more than half an hour remaining.
Guirassy then recharged Dortmund’s belief with a third on 76 minutes but Barca hekd on and kept their dream of the treble alive.
“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.
PSG move ahead
PSG maintained their dreams of a first Champions League title after overcoming Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate even after going down 3-2 in the second leg.
They were ahead 3-1 after the first leg and seemed to have sealed the contest as Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, scored within the first half-hour.
But Youri Tielemans’ deflected goal in the 34th-minute gave them hope and then they went on to score two more early in the second half through John McGinn and Ezri Konsa.
Villa then thew the kitchen sink but PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma pulled ogg one save after another for their aggregate win.
Real vs Arsenal
Real Madrid’s believe that “anything is possible,” as the defending champion seek to overcome a three-goal deficit to Arsenal in the Champions League.
Real have memorable comebacks in recent years, and their website mentioned the “team of dreams” and the club’s achievements “in this stadium, in this competition” a day before their crucual game.”
“Bernabeu, again,” was the headline used ahead of the second leg of the quarterfinals at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Wednesday.
The record 15-time European champions lost the first leg 0-3 in London last week and only four times has a home team wiped out a first-leg deficit of three goals or more in the competition.
“The fans will be very important. The push from the fans has helped us many times before. They have helped us a lot in recent years, and tomorrow it will be the same. We need to play at our best level to try to reverse this result, which we know is something difficult to do,” Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said Tuesday.
“Madrid has all the resources to make a comeback,” Ancelotti said. “We have the quality, the commitment, the experience, the fans. … The resources are there. I don’t know if we will achieve the result that we need, but I’m certain that we will all give our best.”
Similarly, Bayern Munich would hope for a comeback against Inter Milan after going 1-2 down in their first leg, the German team’s first home loss in the competition in nearly four years.
Barca won 5-3 on aggregate while PSG overcame Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
