Barcelona are through to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals with a 5-3 aggregate win, despite losing 3-1 at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday with Serhou Guirassy hitting a hat-trick, while Paris Saint-Germain survived a second-half onslaught to beat Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate and reach the semi-finals, despite a 3-2 defeat.
Holding a 4-0 lead after a dominant performance in Catalonia, Barcelona were made to sweat as Dortmund and Guirassy nearly pulled off a stunning turnaround. Guirassy put Dortmund in front with a Panenka from the spot with 11 minutes gone and headed them two goals clear early in the second half.
Dortmund sensed a sensation, but Barcelona hit back, with Fermin Lopez forcing Ramy Bensebaini into an own-goal with just more than half an hour remaining. Guirassy reignited Dortmund’s belief with a third on the 76th-minute mark and the final stages might have been different had Julian Brandt not been offside before scoring with 11 minutes remaining.
Photo: AFP
Despite losing their first competitive game this year, Barcelona are through to the semis, keeping their dream of a remarkable treble alive, 10 years after last completing the feat by winning the Champions League in Berlin.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick praised Dortmund’s performance, adding that his side “need to focus on the positive, not the negatives.”
“What the team has shown in the past few weeks is incredible. We’ve got a lot ahead of us this season. We’re a step further, but we’re not even close to the end,” the German said.
Lopez said the experience would make the Catalans stronger.
“Dortmund have a really good team, you saw that today. Last week we made them suffer at our place. Today we suffered here, but in the end we were able to limit the damage,” the 21-year-old said. “We’re now in the semi-finals and can draw a lot of strength from this game today because it was a big task.”
Barcelona, considered title favorites, are to face either Inter or Bayern Munich in the final four.
In Birmingham, French champions Paris Saint-Germain were cruising toward the last four when fullbacks Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes struck in the first 27 minutes to add to their 3-1 first-leg lead.
Youri Tielemans pulled a goal back for the English side before halftime and two goals in two minutes from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa transformed the tie early in the second period.
PSG were thankful to goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for keeping Unai Emery’s men at bay and preventing another famous collapse in the Champions League knockout stages.
“At the end, we got them suffering like we did,” Emery said. “To get this level is the next step forward that I want to try to build with Aston Villa.”
The match started on the wrong note, when the Europa League anthem blared out around Villa Park instead of the iconic Champions League song, leaving Aston Villa and PSG players looking quizzically at each other.
With Prince William watching on, Konsa made a facepalm gesture as he and Tielemans tried to contain their laughter, while PSG’s Fabian Ruiz and Ousmane Dembele exchanged puzzled glances.
Additional reporting by Reuters
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Japan yesterday secured a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup finals appearance with a 2-1 win over 2023 champions Canada, thanks to Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino in the qualifying doubles decider. Shibahara and Aoyama powered through the opening set 6-3, breaking twice for a quick 3-0 lead. Cross and Marino hit back in the second, edging it 7-5 to level the match, before the Japanese pair regained control in the third. Canada’s 18-year-old Victoria Mboko edged Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5 in a marathon opening clash. Mboko fired eight aces to
DAY OF BLOWOUTS: Elsewhere, the Lakers clinched the third seed in the Western Conference with a 140-109 pounding of the under-strength Houston Rockets The Denver Nuggets on Friday improved their playoff position, with a triple double from Nikola Jokic helping them to a 117-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Serbian put up 26 points, 13 assists and 16 rebounds. The triple-double performance, his 34th this season, ensured that he will finish the regular season as just the third NBA player to average a triple double across an entire season. The win meant the Nuggets improved to 49-32 on the season and gave them a real chance of grabbing fourth place and home-court advantage in the playoffs. Aaron Gordon top scored with 33 points for Denver,
RSS