Barcelona, one of Europe’s most successful football clubs with five Champions League titles, have finally returned to the semi-finals of the tournament. This is the first time they have reached this stage since 2019.

They secured their place in the final four by holding off a strong comeback attempt from Borussia Dortmund.

Although Barcelona lost the second leg 3-1 on Tuesday, they still won the tie 5-3 on aggregate, thanks to their big win in the first leg.

Dortmund’s striker, Serhou Guirassy, was the star of the night. He scored an incredible hat-trick, which also marked Barcelona’s first loss of 2025 in any competition.

Even so, his three goals were not enough to erase the four-goal advantage that Barcelona had built in the first leg of the quarter-final.

Now, Barcelona will move on to the semi-finals. They will face either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich, depending on who wins the second quarter-final match, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.

It wasn’t our best day

After the game, Barcelona’s head coach Hansi Flick shared his thoughts. He admitted,

“It wasn’t our best day. I had a feeling this could happen, because this stadium always creates a special kind of pressure.”

He went on to praise the opposing team by saying,

“Credit to Dortmund, they played really well.” But despite the loss, he expressed pride in his players, adding, “We’re in the semi-finals, and that’s what matters most.”

From the start of the match, Borussia Dortmund played with great energy and determination. They were clearly motivated, especially after their disappointing performance in the first leg.

They took control of the game early on, keeping constant pressure on Barcelona’s defense. Their efforts paid off in just the 11th minute, when Guirassy scored a clever chipped penalty, giving the home crowd hope for a possible comeback.

Meanwhile, Barcelona, who had not lost a single game in 2025 before this one, found it difficult to get into their usual rhythm.

They looked uncomfortable in the opening minutes but gradually began to calm down and settle into the match.

Just before halftime, Jules Koundé had a golden chance to score and level the game, but he missed the target and the chance slipped away.

Own goal

As the second half began, Dortmund came out even stronger. In the 49th minute, Guirassy scored his second goal.

This time, he headed the ball into the net from close range after receiving a smart flick from his teammate Ramy Bensebaini.

With that goal, the atmosphere in the stadium became electric, and it seemed like Dortmund might actually pull off a miracle comeback.

However, just five minutes later, things took a bad turn for the German side. Ramy Bensebaini accidentally scored an own goal while under heavy pressure from Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski.

That mistake therefore, gave Barcelona a crucial away goal and made it much harder for Dortmund to catch up.

Soon after, Barcelona’s young midfielder Fermin López nearly scored again, but his shot went wide. Although Dortmund kept pushing forward, they started to run out of time and energy.

Career ladder

In the 76th minute, Guirassy managed to complete his hat-trick. He took advantage of a mistake in Barcelona’s defense and scored his 13th goal of the Champions League season.

This was not just an impressive personal achievement—it also set a new record for the most goals scored by a Dortmund player in a single Champions League campaign.

Even though Dortmund showed great courage and had strong support from their fans in the stadium, they couldn’t score enough goals to turn the tie around.

The match ended with Barcelona moving on, while Dortmund were left to reflect on what might have been.

They will now focus on trying to qualify for next year’s Champions League through their performance in the Bundesliga, where they have been inconsistent so far.

After the match, Dortmund midfielder Pascal Gross said,

“We played with more courage and supported each other better today. It’s just a shame we didn’t perform like this in the first leg. It could have been a different story.”

In the end, Barcelona, though clearly shaken by the pressure and intensity of the match, managed to hold on.

They are now just two games away from possibly winning another Champions League title and adding to their proud European legacy.

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