Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona advance to Champions League semi-finals

The Champions League picture is becoming clearer - with two absolute heavyweights marching into the semi-finals. But for Paris Saint-German, it could’ve so easily unravelled.

Marquinhos celebrates with PSG teammate Willian Pacho at fulltime. Picture: Getty

Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele said his side needed to learn not to switch off in big games after almost collapsing against Aston Villa in their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday, and called on his teammates to avoid making the same mistake in the last four.

“You have to be demanding especially in matches like these. We made the task difficult for ourselves, even if Aston Villa put us under a lot of pressure,” Dembele told French broadcaster Canal Plus after PSG lost 3-2 on the night in the second leg, but squeezed through to the semi-finals 5-4 on aggregate.

“They have good players too but I think we made life really difficult for ourselves, especially in the second half where we completely went off the boil.”

Paris Saint-Germain's Ousmane Dembele admitted his side ‘switched off’. Picture: Getty

The French champions travelled to England leading 3-1 from last week’s first leg in Paris, and appeared to have completely killed off the tie as they found themselves 2-0 ahead on the night inside the opening half an hour.

Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes both scored for the visitors at Villa Park, but a deflected Youri Tielemans effort gave the hosts a glimmer of hope before half-time.

John McGinn and Ezri Konsa then both netted in the space of two minutes early in the second half, leaving PSG to hang on grimly at times to their narrow lead.

“We thought we were better than we are,” admitted Dembele.

“At 2-1 we thought we were already qualified, that the tie was over. But this is what the Champions League is like.

“You can come up against teams, especially when they are at home with a heated crowd like that, who can turn games around. So we need to be more demanding of ourselves in the semi-finals.”

PSG's goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma leads the celebrations. Picture: AP

Through to their second consecutive semi-final in the competition, PSG will face the winner of the last-eight tie between Arsenal and Real Madrid.

Those sides meet in Spain on Wednesday for the return leg with Arsenal leading 3-0 from last week’s meeting in London.

Arsenal defeated PSG 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in October, during the league phase.

“This will help us enormously, especially as it should teach us to not stop playing, to keep playing both games right to the end,” insisted France star Dembele.

“We are happy to be through but now we need to get back down to work because to win this trophy you need to be really, really demanding.”

He nevertheless admitted that there was “lots of joy in the dressing room” at the end of the game, as PSG remain on course to win the Champions League for the first time in their history.

“For Paris Saint-Germain to be in the semi-finals is good for the club and for the whole (French) league, and we will try to do our best to get to the final,” added the 27-year-old.

Ollie Watkins, left, and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez after the defeat. Picture: Getty

PSG have now lost five matches out of 14 in the Champions League this season, including three out of six against Premier League opposition, but midfielder Vitinha insisted that being through to the next round was the main thing.

“We knew that qualifying was the most important thing, even if we always want to win,” the Portuguese international told Canal Plus.

“We know it is not easy, playing against a good team in an incredible atmosphere. We started the match well, but then we created problems for ourselves, conceding goals the way we did.

“We were also up against a team who had nothing to lose and who kept pushing, and we switched off a bit, and when you do that in the Champions League you pay for it.

“But we managed to get through, to hold on until the end, so we are pleased. It is not easy to get to the semi-finals.”

BARCELONA PILE PAIN ON DORTMUND

Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy said his side had sealed their fate with a poor first leg performance in Barcelona last week, despite a much improved display in a 3-1 home win on Tuesday.

Trailing 4-0 from the first leg, Guirassy gave Dortmund a glimmer of hope with an early penalty and then a second goal just after half-time.

But an own goal effectively killed off the tie in Barcelona’s favour despite Guirassy completing his hat-trick with 14 minutes left.

“They’re a great team, we’re also a great team, we showed that today. It’s a shame the gap was too big in the first leg,” Guirassy told Amazon Prime.

Dortmund's Niklas Suele and Pascal Gross react to the defeat. Picture: AFP

Guirassy moved up to 13 goals in the Champions League this season, more than any other player in the competition and a club record.

“It’s great to be the top scorer in the Champions League; there are some great players. Being first also means that I’m a great scorer, but without the team, I can’t do it alone.” Dortmund defender Niklas Suele, who won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2020, agreed “that we messed it up in the first leg... the performance was too bad in Barcelona.” The German side looked to have made it 4-1 on the night through Julian Brandt with 11 minutes remaining, but the goal was disallowed for offside and Barcelona progressed 5-3 on aggregate.

“I think it would’ve been an exciting last 10 minutes,” said Dortmund midfielder Pascal Gross.

“Until the last minute we played to show we believed so the stadium would believe in it.

“We’re out because of the bitter game in Barcelona, but you can see we are good enough to go toe-to-toe with them.”

Originally published as Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona advance to Champions League semi-finals