Bundesliga
Serhou Guirassy scored a hat-trick but Borussia Dortmund exited this season’s UEFA Champions League at the quarter-final stage, despite a valiant 3-1 win in their second leg against Barcelona at Signal Iduna Park, losing 5-3 on aggregate.
Dortmund 3-1 Barcelona (3-5 agg.)
Goals: 1-0 Guirassy (pen. 11'), 2-0 Guirassy 49' (assist: Bensebaini), 2-1 Bensebaini (o.g. 54'), 3-1 Guirassy (76')
Niko Kovač’s charges got the early goal they hoped for as they endeavoured to cancel out Barcelona’s 4-0 advantage from the first leg, with Serhou Guirassy dinking in an audacious panenka penalty in the 11th minute after a foul by Wojciech Szczęsny on Pascal Groß. The midfielder had the ball in the net himself moments later as Dortmund tried to beat the offside trap set by the visitors’ high defensive line, but it was rightly ruled out. Ramy Bensebaini then had a free header from a corner that he directed straight at Szczęsny as Dortmund tried to build momentum, but Barcelona retained a threat at the opposite end of the pitch, with Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, in particular, regularly finding space down the left. Szczęsny denied Karim Adeyemi after an impressive run and shot but there were no further goals before the interval, leaving Dortmund needing three second-half goals to take the tie to extra time.
And boy did they go for them. Adeyemi had a shot blocked following a surge of pace into the box early on, with Groß twice denied on the follow-up. Guirassy pulled a goal back from the ensuing corner, nodding in at the back post from Bensebaini’s flick-on. The Signal Iduna Park erupted as the flicker of hope for a comeback for the ages grew, but Barcelona doused it shortly afterwards when Bensebaini turned the ball into his own net when trying to clear Fermin López’s cross from the right. Nevertheless, the spark soon reignited and after Guirassy completed his hat-trick following brilliant play from substitute Julien Duranville, a grandstand finale ensued. Julian Brandt thought he had scored only for it to be disallowed for offside, and despite BVB's lung-busting efforts to further reduce the deficit, Barcelona clung on to stumble into the semi-finals at Dortmund's expense.
Teams
Dortmund: Kobel (c) - Süle, Anton, Bensebaini - Couto (Brandt 77'), Groß, Nmecha (Reyna 64'), Svensson – Adeyemi (Gittens 77'), Guirassy, Beier (Duranville 65')
Unused subs: Meyer, Lotka, Özcan, Ryerson, Wätjen, Mané, Kabar
Out: Can (muscular), Chukwuemeka (thigh), Sabitzer (knee), Schlotterbeck (knee)
Coach: Niko Kovač
Barcelona: Szczęsny - Koundé, Cubarsí, Araújo (c), Martín - De Jong, Gavi (Pedri 59') – López (García 70') – Yamal (Torres 70'), Lewandowski (Olmo 86'), Raphinha
Unused subs: Iñaki Peña, Kochen, Martínez, Fati, Torre, Christensen, Victor, Fort
Out: Baldé (thigh), Bernal (knee), Casadó (knee), Ter Stegen (knee)
Coach: Hansi Flick
As it happened!
It's won after a Groß shot was deflected behind. The corner is taken short to Brandt, but the German's cross is overhit and goes behind for a goal-kick.
Four additional minutes are indicated. Can Dortmund pull off the impossible here?
Barcelona take a short corner on the right and after some nice combination play, Koundé is sent to the byline. The Frenchman digs out a cross, finding García at the far post, but the substitutes effort is wide of the left post.
What drama here! Substitute Brandt is played in behind, beating Szczęsny in a one-on-one. Signal Iduna Park erupts, but the assistant had his flag raised...
Dortmund haven't given in yet. Duranville does excellently down the right wing to keep the ball in before beating his marker and firing a cross into the box. It's a terrible clearance from Araújo, who plays it straight to Guirassy, allowing the Guinean to smash it into the roof of the net from point-blank range. After a lengthy VAR check, the goal stands.
The winger brings down a switch of play with an excellent first touch before cutting in off the right flank and shooting towards the near post. It's an awkward one for Kobel, who could've been wrong-footed, but gets down well to save to his left.
The last few minutes have seen Barcelona dominate possession, and even with Dortmund's fresh legs, the hosts are still chasing the game. A double change to bring on García and Torres seems like a bid to consolidate their lead.
Niko Kovač opts for a double substitution as Dortmund continue to chase the game. Their energy levels had just dropped a bit in the last five minutes, so they'll be hoping that Duranville and Reyna can jumpstart them into life again.
It's another good delivery from the left-back, but this time Barcelona head it clear.
Not for the first time this evening, the Dortmund youngster is found in space on the edge of the Barcelona box. Shifting the ball onto his right foot, he lets fly at the near post, sending it narrowly wide of the post. Some of the crowd thought that had gone in, which tells you it really wasn't far away!
It's Hansi Flick who's the first of the managers to go to the bench, bringing Pedri on for Gavi.
The wind has been taken out of the Yellow Wall's sails after that one. López picks the ball up wide on the right flank and fizzes a low cross into the middle. It's heading for Lewandowski, but Bensebaini, in trying to clear the danger, pokes it past Kobel and into his own net.
Barcelona's teenage sensation cuts in off the right flank and lets a left-footed shot fly. It's deflected behind for a corner, which Barcelona don't manage to capitalise upon.
Svensson takes the resultant corner. He finds Bensebaini at the far post, who heads it back across goal to Guirassy. The Guinean rises highest to head home from close range. Dortmund have showed no signs of slowing in the second half. They couldn't, could they?
Groß wins it in the middle of the park. He plays it to Adeyemi, who beats Koundé for pace before shooting. His effort is palmed away by Szczęsny into the path of Groß, who hits the follow-up, but it's deflected behind for a corner.
Dortmund get the ball rolling for the final half of the tie. Both sides emerge from their dressing rooms unchanged. BVB will attack the famous Yellow Wall for the final 45 here.
Two additional minutes are indicated.
Guirassy releases Beier down the right. The youngster storms forward. Adeyemi was unmarked in the middle, but Beier's cross is deflected behind for a corner. Svensson takes, but BVB can't make anything of it beyond another corner.
A golden opportunity for the visitors: De Jong whips a venomous cross in from the left, finding Koundé at the far post. The full-back is unmarked, but opts to take a touch rather than hitting it first-time, allowing Kobel to get across and dive on the ball. If he had hit it first-time...
Adeyemi is played in behind the Barcelona backline through the left channel. It looks as though he'll have a one-on-one, but a fantastic recovery run from Koundé prevents him from playing an easy square pass to Guirassy. Instead, he has to shoot, connecting with it well and forcing Szczęsny to punch it, but the chance goes begging.
That had been coming. The game has been getting more and more physical as the half has gone on. De Jong is the first to go into the book following a late challenge on Nmecha.
Some lovely football from Barcelona sees Raphinha released clear through in the Dortmund box by Lewandowski. In trying to set himself for a shot, however, he allows time for Dortmund players to recover, and it's Groß who gets a foot in to end the danger. That was a real chance for the visitors...
Following a foul on Couto in a good position on the right for Dortmund, Groß takes the resultant free-kick. His whipped ball finds Beier on the edge of the six-yard box, who guides the header goalwards, but it's straight at Szczęsny again.
Anton gives it away at the back for Dortmund. Lewandowski plays it left to López, who's through on goal on the left, but his effort is rifled into the side netting. The assistant's flag was raised, however, and would've spared Anton's blushes had López managed to finish.
The winger takes a free-kick from the left. Barcelona win the initial header at the far post, but Dortmund get it away to the edge of the box. It drops for Yamal, who tries to play López through, but it's overhit and trickles behind for a goal-kick.
Adeyemi's cross is deflected off Koundé for a corner. Pascal Groß takes an in-swinger from the left, finding Bensebaini at the far post. The defender connects well with the header, but it's straight at the keeper.
Nmecha slips it through the middle for Pascal Groß to chase. Thanks to Barcelona's incredibly high line, the German international has a one-on-one with Szczęsny, finishing calmly past the Barcelona keeper, but the assistant had their flag raised and it won't count.
Yamal runs at a couple of Dortmund defenders. A deflection off an attempted tackle falls kindly for the winger and he keeps driving forwards until Süle puts a stop to it.
Guirassy steps up to take the penalty, and with ice in his veins, sends Szczęsny diving to his right before chipping it down the middle. A perfect panenka and a perfect start for Dortmund!
What a start to the game! Adeyemi slips Groß through into the box. The German gets to the ball ahead of Szczęsny, and the Barcelona goalkeeper brings him down. After a VAR check, the penalty is confirmed!
Dortmund have started brilliantly here. This time, Adeyemi manages to get a shot away inside the left side of the box. It's mishit, but drops for Guirassy, who had been on the floor. The striker tries to direct it goalwards, but again, a Barcelona defender is there to get a block in and clear.
Borussia Dortmund suffered a heavy defeat to Barcelona in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg, with ex-BVB star Robert Lewandowski among the goals.
Barcelona 4-0 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 1-0 Raphinha 25’ (assist: Cubarsí), 2-0 Lewandowski 48’ (assist: Raphinha), 3-0 Lewandowski 66’ (assist: López), 4-0 Yamal 77’ (assist: Raphinha)
Dortmund would have been aware of the size of the challenge facing them when they arrived at the home of the Catalan giants, and yet Barcelona’s lightning-fast start in the opening 20 minutes still seemingly caught them by surprise. All the hosts’ chances initially went down Ramy Bensebaini’s side, with Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal running riot. Dortmund did well to weather the initial storm, relying on the counter-attack to try and punish Barça’s incredibly high defensive line. But Barcelona managed to convert their dominance into a tangible lead after 25 minutes as a free-kick was floated into Iñigo Martínez, who nodded it down for Pau Cubarsí to poke goalwards. Raphinha came storming in at the far post for the final touch to ensure the goal, taking the lead following a VAR check. Surprisingly, it was Dortmund who were lifted by the opener, becoming the more dominant of the sides for the final 15 minutes of the half. Serhou Guirassy went close on three occasions after being teed up in good positions in the box, but each time he didn’t connect with the ball how he would’ve wanted. As such, Barça went in at the break as deserved leaders, though the Black-Yellows had not been without their chances.
Looking to build on a good end to the first half, Dortmund reemerged with renewed attacking impetus. Jamie Gittens hit a good effort shortly after the restart, but BVB’s optimism was squashed minutes later as a high ball found Raphinha at the far post, who looped it back into the six-yard box for a tap-in for Robert Lewandowski. The second goal was a blow to Dortmund’s confidence, who once again had to weather extended periods of Barcelona pressure. The hosts nearly found a third when Fermín López struck the post with a venomous strike from the edge of the box. But it wouldn’t be long before Barcelona would strike again as a quick counter-attack from a Dortmund corner saw López tee up Lewandowski, who smashed it past Gregor Kobel from inside the box to make it three. Barcelona’s ruthless efficiency came to the fore again as they pounced on a loose ball from Julian Brandt in midfield before Raphinha drove up the pitch and set up Yamal for a fourth. Dortmund poured forward in search of any kind of a response, and though Maximilian Beier found the back of the net in the dying embers, it was ruled out for offside.