Barcelona Atletico Exit The Champions League

Barca, Atletico fall in Champions League quarter-finalsDortmund held on to secure a 4-3 aggregate victory over Atletico Madrid and set up a semi-final clash with PSG.

Both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid’s journeys in the UEFA Champions League ended on Tuesday night after suffering defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund, respectively.

Mbappe nails Barcelona
Kylian Mbappe spearheaded a thrilling comeback for Paris Saint-Germain, scoring twice to lead them to a 4-1 victory over 10-man Barcelona. This secured a 6-4 aggregate win and a place in the Champions League semi-finals for the Parisians.

Barcelona started brightly when Raphinha opened the scoring early with a close-range finish after good work from Lamine Yamal. However, their momentum was halted on the half-hour mark when Ronald Araujo received a straight red card for a reckless challenge.

Paris go through to the semi-finals!
PSG capitalised on their numerical advantage, with Ousmane Dembele scoring against his former club just before halftime.

PSG dominated the second half. Vitinha’s screamer from a distance put them ahead on the night, and Mbappe took control of the tie with a well-placed penalty just past the hour mark. He added his second late in the game, completing a clinical counter-attack and securing a semi-final clash with Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund win six-goal thriller
Borussia Dortmund booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in 11 years with a thrilling 4-2 victory over Atletico Madrid in the second leg.

Despite trailing 2-1 on aggregate coming into the game, Dortmund started strongly. Julian Brandt and Ian Maatsen gave them a two-goal lead within the first half.

Diego Simeone responded with a triple substitution at halftime, and Atletico looked to have turned the tide. Mats Hummels’ unfortunate own goal and a powerful strike from Angel Correa put them back in front on aggregate.

However, Dortmund refused to surrender. In a dramatic five-minute period, Niclas Fullkrug’s headed effort and a composed finish from Marcel Sabitzer swung the momentum back in their favour. They held on to secure a 4-3 aggregate victory and set up a semi-final clash with PSG.

Champions League: Dortmund, Atletico Madrid zoom into quarter-finals.

Champions League: Dortmund, Atletico Madrid zoom into quarter-finalsThe quarter-finals are scheduled for 9 to 10 April and 16 to 17 April

Borussia Dortmund reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2021 after Jadon Sancho and Marco Reus goals eliminated PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday.

But last season’s runners-up Inter crashed out on penalties.
Dortmund had drawn 1-1 in the Netherlands in February and Sancho’s early shot from 20 metres and Reus’ late strike were enough for a 3-1 aggregate success.

Inter meanwhile went out 3-2 on penalties having lost 2-1 at Atletico Madrid after extra time. A late Memphis Depay goal for the Spaniards had levelled the tie at 2-2 overall in regulation time.

Alexis Sanchez and Saul Niguez both had spot-kicks saved in the shoot-out before Davy Klaassen’s penalty superbly kept out Jan Oblak and Lautaro Martinez blasted over to leave the last eight of Europe’s premier club competition without Italian representation.

Sancho, who scored his first goal since returning to Dortmund in the Bundesliga win at Werder Bremen on Saturday, made it two in two after just three minutes.

The English winger had endured a painful first half of the season having been banished from the Manchester United first team over his perceived ill-discipline, but returning on-loan to Dortmund has rekindled his old spirit.

Niclas Füllkrug fired wide as the hosts dominated the opening period against the team managed by Dortmund’s former boss Peter Bosz, while Dutchman Donyell Malen also had a good chance on 15 minutes against his ex-club.
The 80,000 or so home fans were in vociferous form and PSV struggled to get into the game as the 1997 winners pounced on every mistake, roared on by the crowd.

PSV improved in the second half, with substitute Hirving Lozano striking the post and Johan Bakayoko having a shot well saved by Gregor Kobel, but Dortmund were always a threat and had a Füllkrug goal ruled out for a very tight offside.

Luuk de Jong blazed over a glorious chance for the visitors late on and almost immediately, Isaac Babadi’s slip let in Dortmund substitute Reus to score in stoppage time.
Kobel said: “It is mega, mega cool, I’m really excited to have qualified. “We didn’t let them breathe early on, we had chance after chance.”

Atletico sneak through
In Madrid, Simone Inzaghi’s runaway Serie A leaders took the lead just after the half-hour when wing-back Federico Dimarco finished off a fine move.

But soon after the home side were level, their all-time leading scorer Antoine Griezmann netting after Koke’s deflected through-ball, sat up invitingly for the France international.

Griezmann was then denied by Yann Sommer in the second half but substitute Depay equalised on 87 after waves of pressure to send the game to an additional 30 minutes.

After a fairly cagey extra-time, Inter fell apart in the shoot-out. Record winners Real Madrid, holders Manchester City, six-time champions Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain all progressed to the quarter-finals last week.

On Tuesday, Barcelona and Arsenal joined them in the open draw, which takes place on Friday. The quarter-finals are scheduled for 9 to 10 April and 16 to 17 April.