Barcelona falls for the first time in 2025, yet strides into the semifinals

Dortmund (Germany): Who would've thought? Borussia Dortmund stunned Barcelona in 2025, fuelled by a breathtaking hat trick from Guinean striker Serhou Guirassy. Despite Dortmund’s 3–1 win—Barcelona’s first loss in any competition since December—it wasn’t enough to overturn the damage from a crushing 4–0 first-leg defeat. The Spanish side advanced on a 5–3 aggregate, booking their place in the Champions League semifinals.
With nothing to lose, Dortmund attacked from the opening whistle, throwing Barcelona off balance. Guirassy, who had missed key chances in the first leg, made no mistake this time—converting a penalty in the 11th minute after a collision between keeper Wojciech Szczęsny and Pascal Groß. He struck again with a commanding header early in the second half, and after an unfortunate own goal by teammate Ramy Bensebaini gave Barcelona a crucial away goal, Guirassy completed his hat trick in the 76th minute, pouncing on a Ronald Araújo error.
The performance made Guirassy the Champions League’s top scorer this season with 13 goals. “Serhou just needs the support of his teammates, like every striker does—and he got that today,” said Dortmund coach Niko Kovač. “He’s our life insurance.”
But the effort fell short. Fermin López’s low cross deflected off Bensebaini for a costly own goal, and Barcelona held firm to survive a late Dortmund surge that had shades of their own famous comeback against PSG in 2017.Barcelona manager Hansi Flick—no stranger to Dortmund from his Bundesliga days—had warned that the passionate home crowd would make the second leg a battle, even with a four-goal cushion.
“I had a little feeling something like this could happen,” Flick told the media. “Congratulations to Dortmund, they played a very good game. And congratulations to my team—we’re in the semifinals.”It was a quiet night for Barcelona’s usually lethal duo—Raphinha and Lewandowski—who entered the match with 12 and 11 Champions League goals respectively. Their best effort came from a tame Raphinha shot straight at Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel.
Breaking streaks and setting sights
Barcelona now awaits Inter Milan or Bayern Munich in the semifinals—their first time reaching the last four since the 2018–19 season. Tuesday's loss was their first in the Champions League since September and only the seventh defeat in Flick’s 50 matches in charge. He had previously won all seven encounters with Dortmund as coach of both Bayern and Barcelona.For Dortmund, the dream ends—for now. The 2024–25 Champions League runners-up sit eighth in the Bundesliga, six points shy of the qualification spots with five games to go. The famous anthem may not echo through their stadium again next season.

PSG Edges Past Aston Villa to Reach Champions League Semifinals

Paris Saint- Germain (PSG) narrowly avoided a historic collapse to secure a place in the UEFA Champions League semifinals, despite a 3-2 loss to Aston Villa in the second leg of their quarterfinal tie at Villa Park on Tuesday.

Achraf Hakimi and Luis Enrique

Entering the match with a 3-1 advantage from the first leg, PSG looked in full control after quick-fire goals from fullbacks Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes inside 27 minutes gave them a commanding 5-1 aggregate lead. However, Aston Villa mounted a spirited comeback in front of a raucous home crowd, which included Prince William in attendance. Youri Tielemans pulled one back for Villa with a deflected strike just before halftime, and the hosts continued to push forward after the break. A dramatic two- minute spell saw goals from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa bring the aggregate score to 5-4 by the 57th minute.
Villa continued to press for the decisive goal that would have forced extra time, but PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma delivered a heroic performance, producing several crucial saves to deny Villa's Marcus Rashford, Youri Tielemans, and Marco Asensio. Defender Willian Pacho also made a vital block in stoppage time to preserve PSG’s aggregate lead.

The result marked PSG’s progression to the semifinals for the third time in five seasons, as they continue their quest for a first Champions League title. The French club, now without former stars Neymar, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappé, have shown resilience under head coach Luis Enrique. Despite the disappointment, Aston Villa’s performance earned plaudits as they returned to the elite stage of European football for the first time since the 1982-83 season.
PSG now awaits the outcome of the other quarterfinal between Arsenal and Real Madrid, with Arsenal currently leading 3-0 from the first leg.