Late drama can’t stop PSG & Barcelona from booking semi-final spots | OneFootball

Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona became the first semi-finalists of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League season last night.

Despite losing their respective second-leg fixtures on the road, landslide first-leg triumphs at home against Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund were enough to put them through.

Stunning yet futile comeback

Unai Emery slumped to a 3-1 defeat on his return to the Parc des Princes as Villa manager but nearly crashed his former club out at Villa Park.

Despite taking an early two-goal lead through Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, PSG had to survive a late scare to book a semi-final date.

Youri Tielemans initiated the Lions’ comeback toward the end of the first half before John McGinn and Ezri Konsta completed the turnaround.

With over 30 minutes left on the clock, Villa seemed perfectly positioned to inflict another ‘Remontada’ on Les Parisiens.

However, a catalogue of wasted opportunities returned to haunt the Premier League side as they waved goodbye to Europe’s top table.

Luis Enrique’s side squeezed into the last four by the skin of their teeth and could meet another English club, with Arsenal on the verge of beating Real Madrid in their heavyweight quarter-final tie.

Barcelona hit ‘Yellow Wall’

Dortmund’s comeback after an embarrassing 4-0 defeat in Spain always looked improbable, yet another dream European night at Signal Iduna Park almost made the ‘impossible’ the ‘predictable.’

Serhou Guirassy’s double in the opening 50 minutes made the home fans dream big after a catastrophic loss on the road, only for Ramy Bensebaini’s scrappy own goal to cut off Die Borussen’s fightback.

Guirassy restored hope in Niko Kovac’s camp in the 76th minute, but it was too little too late for the Bundesliga strugglers, even though they bucked an unwanted trend.

After going winless in all five continental matches against Barcelona, Dortmund entered the win column against runaway La Liga leaders to salvage some pride.

If it’s any consolation for the devastated Ruhr faithful, Dortmund became the first team to beat Hansi Flick’s charges in 2025, halting Barca’s incredible 25-game unbeaten streak in all competitions.

Despite that setback, Los Blaugranas are through to the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2018/19 and will face either Bayern Munich or Inter Milan.