Kylian Mbappe bagged a brace as Paris Saint-Germain secured a 6-4 aggregate win over Barcelona to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.
After a wild match in Spain, PSG, who had trailed 3-2 after the first leg in France, advanced to the final four for the first time since 2021.
Borussia Dortmund will play Luis Enrique’s team in the semifinal after they defeated Atletico Madrid 5–4 on aggregate in an exciting match in Germany.
At the temporary home of five-time champions Barcelona, the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, the visitors had the better start of the two.
However, Lamine Yamal’s drive down the right-hand side saw him beat Nuno Mendes and clip over for Raphinha to score from close range, giving the Catalans the early advantage.
At that moment, PSG’s task appeared overwhelming because they needed to score two goals to tie the game overall and the crowd was largely against them.
But when Barca defender Ronald Araujo clipped Bradley Barcola just outside the box and denied a great goal-scoring opportunity, things quickly went wrong and he was given a straight red card.
Barcelona had to play with 10 men for the whole 60 minutes because Araujo seemed to argue that Pau Cubarsi, his center-back partner, was covering and so not the last man. However, the video assistant referee upheld the on-field judgement of the referee.
When Barcola zipped the ball over the six-yard box, Ousmane Dembele, playing against his old team, rocketed into the roof of the net to double the lead.
Nine minutes after the break, Vitinha found himself in plenty of space on the outskirts of the Barcelona box and struck a beautiful goal into the bottom corner to put the score 2-1 on the night and 4-4 on aggregate.
When Joao Cancelo pulled down Dembele in the box, Mbappe scored the penalty kick to give PSG the lead, continuing their incredible comeback.
Mbappe stepped up and slammed into the net in the 89th minute to cap two incredibly interesting quarterfinal matches, having been silent for the majority of the two legs.
The first legs of the semi-finals are scheduled for April 30 and May 1 on different nights, while the second legs are scheduled for May 7 and 8.
Photo by EPA/Siu Wu
