Paris St Germain (PSG) forward Kylian Mbappe celebrates goal against Barcelona, during UEFA Champions League match, at the Olympic Lluis Companys stadium in Barcelona, Spain.
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PSG Knocks Barcelona Out Of UEFA Champions League

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Paris St Germain (PSG) forward Kylian Mbappe scored twice to help his side to a come-from-behind 4-1 win against 10-man Barcelona in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg, wrapping up a 6-4 aggregate victory at the Olympic Lluis Companys stadium in Barcelona, Spain.

After winning 3-2 in Paris and taking a 1-0 lead with an early Raphinha goal in the return leg, Barcelona collapsed after going down to 10 men just before the half-hour when last man Ronald Araujo was red-carded for fouling Bradley Barcola.

Former Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele equalised for the visitors just before the break while Vitinha and Mbappe finished the job in the second half to claim a 4-1 win in Spain.

“I feel very proud, the players showed a lot of character and desire,” PSG manager Luis Enrique said after the match.

“We showed what we wanted to do here. We conceded a goal but we remained intact in mentality. We did everything to be better than Barca.”

Having failed to get past the round of 16 in the last two seasons and being pinned against the ropes by a Barca side who were in the ascendancy, PSG put on a gritty performance to make the most of the home side’s mistakes and turn the tie around.

“Everyone believed in it. We didn’t give up,” Dembele said in an interview. “We knew we were going to score goals. It was great work from the whole team. The coach’s tactics were perfect. We made a great effort after conceding the first goal.”

“Qualifying for the semi-final is a big thing. We’re crossing our fingers to make it to the final. We’ll have to recover well.”

PSG will now face Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League after the Germans beat Atletico Madrid.

Borussia Dortmund stormed into the Champions League semi-finals with a rip-roaring 4-2 home win over Atletico Madrid on Tuesday that saw them fight back from a 2-1 defeat in the first leg to win the tie 5-4 on aggregate.

The German side scored twice in the first half and looked to be cruising into the last four, but Atletico bounced back with two goals early in the second half to put Dortmund on the ropes before they dug deep to complete a superb comeback.

“We played an incredibly good first half, then there was the extremely unfortunate goal conceded, (but) how we came back, wow,” delighted Dortmund coach Edin Terzic said in an interview.

The stage is now set for a mammoth semi-final clash between Borussia Dortmund and Paris St Germain for a place in the final of the UEFA Champions League.

Source UEFA Champions League Reuters
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