Barcelona booked their place in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals with a 5-3 aggregate victory, despite suffering a 3-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night, thanks to a hat-trick from Serhou Guirassy.
Holding a comfortable 4-0 advantage from the first leg in Catalonia, the Spanish giants were rattled in Germany as Guirassy led a spirited Dortmund fightback that came close to producing one of the greatest comebacks in Champions League history.
Guirassy stars in Dortmund’s near miracle
Guirassy opened the scoring with a cheeky Panenka penalty in the 11th minute after Wojciech Szczesny brought down Pascal Gross in the box. The 29-year-old Guinean doubled Dortmund’s lead just four minutes after the restart, heading in a corner from Ramy Bensebaini to reduce the aggregate deficit to 4-2.
Barcelona regained their composure shortly after. Fermin Lopez’s driven ball across the face of goal forced an own goal from Bensebaini to ease the pressure and restore a crucial two-goal cushion.
Yet, Dortmund didn’t relent. Guirassy completed his hat-trick in the 76th minute to give the hosts renewed hope, bringing the aggregate score to 5-3. Julian Brandt thought he had added a fourth, but his goal was ruled out for offside with 11 minutes left.
Barcelona’s treble dream lives on
Despite the defeat; their first competitive loss in 2025, Barcelona are through to the semi-finals and remain in the hunt for a treble, a decade after their last Champions League triumph in Berlin. The Blaugrana will face either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich in the final four.
Coach Hansi Flick resisted the temptation to rest his star forwards, sticking with Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal, and Raphinha. That attacking mindset paid off when Barcelona needed a response in front of a raucous 81,000-strong crowd at Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion.
