PARIS Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund have advanced to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League after big wins over Barcelona and Atletico Madrid respectively.
French champions PSG took advantage of an early red card to thrash Barcelona 4-1 in Spain to advance 6-4 on aggregate, while Dortmund beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 in Germany for a 5-4 aggregate victory.
Kylian Mbappe, who had an ineffectual first leg on Wednesday last week and struggled for most of the second leg, scored twice as Paris St-Germain trounced Barcelona to turn around a 3-2 first-leg deficit.
With the victory, PSG reached the last four for the first time since 2021.
It was Barcelona who struck first at their temporary Estadi Olimpic Luis Companys home when teenager Lamine Yamal beat Nuno Mendes and set up Raphinha to score from close range in the 12th minute.
Barca were cruising at that point with a two-goal advantage on aggregate but defender Ronald Araujo was given a straight red card for clipping Bradley Barcola just outside the box and denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity in the 29th minute.
Ousmane Dembele capitalised on the advantage against his former side, firing a fierce shot into the roof of the net from Barcola’s cross in the 40th minute to draw PSG level on the night.
The visitors then scored thrice in the second half to seal the victory.
Vitinha hit a low, hard strike into the bottom corner nine minutes after the break to make it 2-1 on the night and 4-4 on aggregate, and Mbappe converted a penalty in the 61st minute to put PSG in front.
The France captain completed his brace in the 89th minute from close range to send PSG into the semi-finals.
On their part, Borussia Dortmund reached their first Champions League semi-final in 11 years by producing a stirring second-half comeback at home to beat Atletico Madrid 5-4 on aggregate.
Having lost the first leg 2-1 in Madrid, Dortmund quickly turned things around with Julian Brandt and Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen both scoring in the first half.
But Atletico Madrid drew level on the night with two strikes in 15 minutes, first an own goal by Mats Hummels in the 49th minute and then an Angel Correa effort from a rebound in the 64th minute to put the Spaniards 5-4 up on aggregate.
But Dortmund levelled once again in a thrilling second half as Niclas Fullkrug finished off Marcel Sabitzer’s cross with a looping header after 71 minutes.
And less than three minutes later former Manchester United loanee Sabitzer struck Dortmund’s winner with to set up a semi-final against Paris St-Germain.
The two semi-final first legs take place on April 30 and May 1, with the second legs the following week.
