Champions League football
Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund are in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Both teams made up for the loss in the first leg by winning big against their Spanish opponents on Tuesday.
Tuesday 16 April 2024 at 22:58
FC Barcelona had won 2–3 in Paris and also quickly took the lead at home. The barely sixteen-year-old Lamine Yamal pushed well on the right and found Raphinha centrally in front of goal. The Brazilian just had to push in and the score was 1-0 after twelve minutes. But before half an hour, a red card for Ronald Araujo completely turned the match around. The Uruguayan defender had brought down Bradley Barcola, who had broken through, just outside the box.
Ousmane Dembélé equalized for PSG in the first half. Just after halftime, Barcelona completely lost sight of Vitinha on a corner kick, the Portuguese midfielder kicked the 1-2 lead into the bottom corner without hesitation. Virtually, that score was good for extra time, but the Catalans were hanging on the ropes. Just after the hour, Joao Cancelo attacked Dembélé completely unnecessarily and above all too boldly on the edge of the box. Referee Istvan Kovacs did not hesitate to put the ball on the spot and Kylian Mbappé kicked in hard. In the end, Mbappé made it 1-4 with his second of the evening, which was also the final score. PSG has its revenge for the shame of 2017. Then FC Barcelona made up for the 4-0 loss in the first leg of the eighth finals by winning 6-1 at home.
Three-faced competition
Borussia Dortmund has qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2013 thanks to a 4-2 win in a crazy second leg against Atlético Madrid (2-1 first leg). It went from 2-0 to 2-2 to 4-2.
The Germans started the game like a whirlwind, but only scored in the 34th minute. Mats Hummels released Julien Brandt with a wonderful pass on the outside of the foot, the German midfielder was able to round ex-Red Devil Axel Witsel and outwit goalkeeper Jan Oblak from an acute angle: 1-0.
The ardent support of the supporters was contagious for Dortmund, who continued as usual. Through several stations, Ian Maatsen again came into scoring position from the left and the Dutch left back shot in from the corner: 2-0.
But the Madrilenians still came alongside in the second half and were virtually in the semi-finals. On a corner, Mario Hermoso nodded harmlessly towards the goal, but Mats Hummels (49) unfortunately worked the ball against his own net. Fifteen minutes later, substitute Angel Correa nailed in a third rebound: 2-2.
Dortmund recovered surprisingly quickly from the double uppercut and turned the draw into a lead again in three minutes. First, Niclas Füllkrug headed in Sabitzer’s cross beautifully, and in minute 74 the Austrian played another hero’s role with an angle shot for the 4-2.
