Dortmund loses 1-2 against Atlético Madrid, Barcelona converts a deficit into a 3-2 win against Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-final first leg.
FC Barcelona’s Raphinha scores his second goal against Paris St. Germain’s Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Sarah Meyssonnier / Reuters
(sda)
It was Raphinha who gave the Catalans the lead before the break. It was the Brazilian’s first goal in the premier class. But PSG coach Luis Enrique, who won the last title in the highest European club competition with Barcelona in 2015, seemed to have found the right words during the break. The French didn’t need long after the break to turn things around in their favor.
After beautiful combinations, Ousmane Démbélé (48th) and Vitinha (51st) gave the Qatari-run club a 2-1 lead within three minutes, whose owners have been dreaming of the most prestigious title in European football for years. But Barcelona, who have been unbeaten in all competitions since the end of January, did not let the Paris double blow upset them.
After an hour it was Raphinha who equalized the score after a quick counterattack, and when coach had. Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s highly valued talent with a billion-dollar release clause, failed to score. At 16 years and 272 days, the offensive player is now the youngest player to ever appear in a quarter-final of the Champions League.
Own mistakes cost Dortmund a better starting position
Dortmund’s Mats Hummels flies over Atletico Madrid’s Angel Correa.
Alvaro Medranda / Imago
Borussia Dortmund dreams of reaching a Champions League semi-final for the first time since 2013. But against Atlético Madrid, BVB fell behind early on. An opening game by the otherwise strong Gregor Kobel put defender Ian Maatsen in trouble. Atlético’s Argentinian world champion Rodrigo De Paul benefited and gave the Swiss goalie no chance to defend (4th).
Atlético then controlled the game and increased it to 2-0 after half an hour through Samuel Lino, which meant that the Madrilenians were finally on course to extend the impressive series of their coach Diego Simeone. The eccentric on the line has never lost a home game in the knockout phase of the Champions League with Atlético.
Until the 17th victory was secured, the Spaniards were still shaking against the Bundesliga club. Substitute Sébastien Haller brought hope back for Dortmund (81′). However, luck was not on Edin Terzic’s team’s side that evening. Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Julian Brand hit the crossbar in the final stages for the Germans, who can still go into the second leg in a week with a chance of progressing.