Barcelona remain with ten men, PSG overturns them and flies to the semi-final: 4-1, double from Mbappé. Dortmund party, 4-2 at Atletico Madrid

Will be Borussia Dortmund-Psg the first semi-final of Champions League. The Borussiadefeated 2-1 in the first leg in Madrid, turned it around Atletico beating them 4-2 at the Westfalenstadion. The PSGwho had to recover the 3-2 conceded at home, a Barcelona they won 4-1 in a comeback, favored by Araujo’s expulsion which left the Blaugrana with 10 men after just 29′. Curiously, the two teams have already faced each other in this edition: they were part of group F, that of Milan. In Paris the French won 2-0 while in Germany the match ended 1-1. The first leg of the semi-final is scheduled for April 30th in Dortmund, while the return leg will be played on May 7th in Paris.

Borussia Dortmund-Atletico Madrid 4-2

Dortmund celebrates their return to the Champions League semi-finals after 11 years by overwhelming Atletico 4-2. Germany once again proved to be a hostile land for Simeone who lost there 8 times out of 9. The start was a concentration of emotions: after 2′ Sabitzer saw a shot blocked by Azpilicueta in a slide, the ‘Atletico replied in the 4th minute with Morata who, having flown all alone towards the goal, incredibly put the ball wide. Borussia breathed a sigh of relief and went ahead in the 34th minute Brandt who, unmarked in the area by Hummels, passed Witsel in a tight dribble and with a strong diagonal left foot bent Oblak’s hands. The yellow and blacks got excited and in the 39th minute they doubled their lead with Maatsen who served in the area by Sabitzer beat Oblak again with another diagonal left-footed shot.

Fullkrug and Sabitzer decide the challenge

At the start of the second half, Simeone revolutionized Atletico by introducing Correa, Barrios and Riquelme for Morata, Molina and Azpilicueta and the team immediately scored (49′) albeit with a bit of luck: following the development of a corner, Hermoso headed in in the middle where Hummels, with the tip of his foot, unfortunately deflected the ball into his own goal. Dortmund faltered but Atletico pardoned them by failing with Correa another one-on-one goal with Kobel. However, the Argentine made up for it in the 64th minute by returning a shot blocked by Hummels after Riquelme had challenged Kobel.

Dortmund rolled up their sleeves and regained the lead in the 71st minute with a stunning header from Fullkrug from a cross from the left of Sabitzer. The same Austrian midfielder just 3′ later signed the 4-2 with a great diagonal left-footed shot from the edge. Atletico rushed forward but the hosts legitimized their qualification by going close to 5-2 again with Sabitzer.

Barcelona-PSG 1-4

PSG manages to comeback after the 3-2 defeat in the first leg. At the Olimpico they won 4-1 and returned to the Champions League semi-finals after 3 years. For Luis Enriquand, having won the cup on the Catalans’ bench in 2015, the great satisfaction of becoming the first former Blaugrana coach to eliminate his former team. Barcelona deluded themselves by breaking the deadlock in the 12th minute Raphinhathe great protagonist of the first leg: the Brazilian sent Yamal’s low cross from two steps towards goal from the right, which went away to Nuno Mendes.

Then, after an opportunity on each side (Lewandowski and Mbappé), the turning point came (29′): Barcola went away from a throw-in and was held at the limit by Araujo who was inevitably sent off by Romanian referee Kovacs. The subsequent free kick was kicked around the corner by Dembele who almost reached the top corner. Xavi tried to take cover by removing Yamal and inserting Inigo Martinez but already in the 40th minute PSG equalized with the great former player on duty, Dembele, who sent a center from Barcola’s left under the crossbar. Dembelé himself came close to making it 2-1 before the break with a diagonal right-footed shot.

Vitinha and double Mbappé crush the Blaugrana

The siege of the French continued in the second half and, after the opportunities wasted by Hakimi and Fabian Ruiz, the 2-1 arrived, inevitably. Vitinha (54′) scored with a great diagonal right foot from outside on an assist from Hakimi. Barcelona had a surge of pride, touching the post with Gundogan but in the 61st minute they conceded the 3-1 from Mbappé who converted a penalty awarded by the unleashed Dembelé (foul by Joao Cancelo). Barcelona attempted to get back into the game but Donnarumma denied Lewandowski to make it 3-2. PSG took a breath and took a throw-in in the 89th minute with Mbappé (41st goal of the season) who broke ter Stegen’s resistance at the third attempt.