Barcelona and Paris St-Germain became the first teams to advance to this season’s UEFA Champions League semi-finals after aggregate victories over Borussia Dortmund and Aston Villa respectively.
Both Barcelona and PSG took healthy first-leg advantages into Tuesday night’s reverse fixtures, but they needed to hang on in the end.
The Spaniards lost the second leg in Germany 3-1 to advance 5-3 on aggregate, while PSG endured a nervy finale to qualify 5-4.
Villa were attempting to overturn a 3-1 deficit to reach the semi-final but their hopes looked in tatters when they were two goals down inside the first half-hour.
Achraf Hakimi cashed in on Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez’s mistake to put PSG ahead, then Nuno Mendes doubled the French side’s lead to leave Villa needing to score at least four goals.
In a thunderous Villa Park atmosphere, Unai Emery’s team refused to yield and launched a magnificent response to put this hugely talented PSG side under pressure.
Youri Tielemans pulled one back after 34 minutes with a deflected shot before a second half of pure theatre unfolded in front a frenzied Villa Park.
Villa struck twice in two minutes to spark hopes of a remarkable revival, John McGinn scoring from 20 yards after 55 minutes before defender Ezri Konsa put them ahead on the night after fantastic work by Marcus Rashford.
And, as Villa’s belief grew, it took three crucial saves from PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to stop them drawing level in the tie.
The Italy goalkeeper dived high to his left to magnificently claw away Rashford’s rising drive, then somehow turned out Tielemans’ header before saving at the feet of substitute Marco Asensio.
PSG managed to regain a measure of composure to hold on and will meet Arsenal or Real Madrid in the semi-final.
At the Signa Iduna Park, Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy scored a hat-trick but an own goal by Ramy Bensebaini scuppered their efforts at pulling off a miracle.
Having won the first leg 4-0 in Spain last week, Barca squeezed through to face Inter Milan or Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.
Barcelona have now qualified for the Champions League semi-final for the first time since 2018/2019.
