Paris Saint-Germain players Desire Doue (L) and Marquinhos celebrate after their Champions League quarter-final second-leg match against Aston Villa. Photo: AFP
Paris St Germain kept alive their dream of a first Champions League title by squeezing past Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate after a thrilling second leg of their quarter-final in Birmingham which the English side won 3-2.
Meanwhile in Germany, five-time European champions Barcelona reached their first semi-final in six seasons with a 5-3 aggregate victory, despite being beaten 3-1 by Borussia Dortmund.
Ahead 3-1 from the first leg, PSG appeared to have sealed the contest within the first half-hour as their marauding fullbacks Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes scored from two flowing counter-attacks to stun the Villa Park crowd.
But Youri Tielemans revived hope with a 34th-minute deflected goal before Villa stunned the visitors early in the second half with two goals in two minutes from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa.
Villa poured forward, drawing a string of outstanding saves from PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to preserve the aggregate win and enable his side to move into a semi-final against either Real Madrid or Arsenal.
PSG were hot favourites to win the quarter-final given their first-leg advantage and recent form, including sealing a fourth straight Ligue 1 title and reaching the final of the French Cup.
But Villa were not lacking belief themselves, especially at home where they were on a 17-match unbeaten run in all competitions. The hosts came out flying, nearly taking the lead from a corner in an early flurry of attacks.
Frantic finale
However, PSG struck first blood in the 11th minute when Hakimi stroked the ball in after Villa's usually ultra-reliable goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez pushed it into his path.
Sixteen minutes later, Mendes curled in Villa's second goal off the post at the end of another fast-flowing counter-attack.
Tielemans's first-half goal appeared unlikely to swing the tie but it inspired Villa to storm out in the second half, with McGinn letting fly from outside the box to score in the 55th minute, helped by a small deflection.
Then Konza struck Villa's third on the night after being set up with a brilliant dribble from Marcus Rashford.
One more goal would have put Villa level on aggregate but Donnarumma defied Rashford, Tielemans and then substitute Marco Asensio during a nerve-wracking finale.
"Very proud of the boys, of what we've done tonight," said Konza.
"Obviously the two goals at the start killed us. But we showed great belief, great character to get back into the game. But unfortunately it wasn't enough."
Barcelona through
In Dortmund, Serhou Guirassy scored a hat-trick for Dortmund to condemn Barca to their first defeat across all competitions this year but it could not prevent the Catalans from reaching the last four.
Barcelona's Spanish defender (L) tackles Borussia Dortmund forward Julien Duranville. Photo: AFP
Barcelona will play either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich, who face each other on Thursday, in the last four.
The visitors found themselves on the back foot from the start with Dortmund shooting out of the blocks as they attempted to bounce back from last week's 4-0 first-leg loss.
Dortmund had two golden chances in the opening minutes before Guirassy's chipped penalty in the 11th minute gave them a deserved lead.
The Spaniards, unbeaten in 2025 going into the game, gradually fought their way back and could have levelled were it not for some sloppy finishing from Jules Kounde in the 40th.
After the break, however, Dortmund were again the stronger side at the start and Guirassy headed in after Ramy Bensebaini's nod from a corner four minutes after the restart to ignite hopes of a potential record-matching comeback.
Dortmund's attempt to match Barcelona's Champions League record of overturning a four-goal first-leg deficit in a knockout stage was derailed by Bensebaini's 54th-minute own goal that settled Spanish nerves.
Robert Lewandowski had put Bensebaini under pressure as he chased a cutback from Fermin Lopez, and the Dortmund player stabbed the ball into his own net.
Lopez then had a chance to score himself in the 64th but his shot missed the target.
Guirassy, the first Dortmund player to score 13 goals in a single Champions League campaign, completed his hat-trick in the 76th, pouncing on a defensive error.
But, with Dortmund still needing two more goals to take the game to extra time, the hosts gradually ran out of steam.
- Reuters
