Barcelona advanced to their first Champions League semi-final in five years despite a jittery loss.
Serhou Guirassy’s sharp hat-trick led Dortmund to a 3-1 victory, but it wasn’t enough to pull off a comeback, with Barcelona reaching the last four despite enduring their first defeat of 2025.
Dortmund were striving to become only the second team in UEFA Champions League history to overturn a four-goal first-leg deficit in a knockout tie, a feat previously achieved by Barcelona in 2016/17. However, with no wins in this fixture and following their heavy 4-0 loss at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, history was firmly against Niko Kovač’s side.
The hosts started strong, looking like a team determined to make history. In the first few minutes, Guirassy, Maximilian Beier, and Daniel Svensson all forced goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny into action, while Karim Adeyemi almost set up Guirassy for a close-range shot soon after.
Guirassy then had the chance to give his team the lead with a penalty after Pascal Gross was fouled by Szczęsny. The Dortmund striker confidently converted with a clever Panenka, sending the ball right down the middle to beat the goalkeeper.
The Barcelona goalkeeper was in the right place to catch headers from Ramy Bensebaini and Beier, and also stopped a sharp shot from Adeyemi, as Dortmund kept up their strong attack in the first half.
After the break, Dortmund didn’t lose their attacking flow, with Adeyemi and Gross testing Szczęsny just two minutes into the second half.
Dortmund’s hopes of a comeback grew stronger moments later when Bensebaini scored with a powerful header from the far post, sending Svensson’s corner into the middle, where Guirassy was quick to finish from close range.
Dortmund’s hopes of pulling off a comeback like Barcelona’s famous 2017 ‘La Remontada’ were briefly put on hold when Fermín López’s low cross, meant for Raphinha, was deflected into the net by Bensebaini past goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
But Dortmund kept pushing and got closer on aggregate when Guirassy scored with a powerful shot into the top of the net after a clearance from Ronald Araújo fell right to him.
Despite Guirassy completing his hat-trick, Dortmund couldn’t create any more chances to complete a memorable Champions League comeback.
