Borussia Dortmund gave it everything and won 3-1 against Barcelona, but it wasn’t enough to come back from their heavy first-leg defeat. Barcelona still went through to the UEFA Champions League semi-final for the first time since the 2018/19 season.
Most people thought the tie was already over before the match even kicked off. But the loud support from the Yellow Wall and Dortmund’s high energy on the pitch told a different story. Maximilian Beier had a go from distance, Serhou Guirassy had a couple of chances, and Daniel Svensson also tried his luck early on. Just 10 minutes in, Wojciech Szczęsny brought down Pascal Groß and gave away a penalty. Guirassy calmly chipped it in with a Panenka.
Pascal Groß thought he’d scored again soon after, but it was ruled offside. Despite the big lead, Barcelona looked nervous. Emre Can forced a save from Szczęsny, and even though Barça had a chance after a mistake by Waldemar Anton, Fermín López missed and was offside anyway. The Spanish side started to settle down, but Karim Adeyemi made Szczęsny work, and Jules Koundé couldn’t make the most of a perfect cross from Frenkie de Jong.
Dortmund kept pushing and were rewarded early in the second half. Szczęsny stopped efforts from Adeyemi and Groß, but from the resulting corner, Ramy Bensebaini nodded Svensson’s cross back across goal, and Guirassy headed it in. Just five minutes later though, Bensebaini unfortunately turned Fermín’s cross into his own net, making things tougher for Dortmund again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOfGBZd6v98
Barcelona looked more in control after that, although Fermín wasted a great chance. Dortmund made some changes, but De Jong helped Barcelona keep things calm. Still, Guirassy completed his hat-trick after Ronald Araújo failed to clear properly. Julian Brandt thought he had scored another for Dortmund, but was offside, and Koundé later blocked a Svensson shot.
Dortmund were the better team on the night, but Barcelona’s big first-leg lead saw them through. They now face either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich in the semi-finals. For Dortmund, the performance and result were a boost ahead of a big Bundesliga game on Sunday, as they try to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
