5️⃣ things we learned from Tuesday's UCL quarter-final action | OneFootball

There was plenty to play for ahead of the 2024/25 Champions League quarter-final second legs and some valiant comeback attempts were mounted across two spectacular games on Tuesday evening.

Here are the five things we learned from two games jam-packed with goals on Tuesday.

Barcelona end UCL semi-final drought

Barcelona will play their first Champions League semi-final since 2019 after beating Borussia Dortmund 5-3 on aggregate.

The LaLiga giants did the heavy lifting in the first leg and secured what turned out to be a vital 4-0 victory in Catalonia last week.

Hansi Flick's side conceded two goals from an in-form Guirassy before Ramy Bensebaini's own goal gave the Blaugrana additional breathing space yet again.

Barça were far from their fluent best and shipped another Guirassy goal late on, but were able to see out their victory and book their spot in the final four.

This result ended Barcelona's 24-match unbeaten run in all competitions, although Flick's men are likely to view this setback as a blip rather than any reason for concern in what has been a rampant campaign so far.

PSG defenders do the business

PSG raced into a 2-0 lead at Villa Park after just 28 minutes through two marauding defenders, who have been earning plenty of plaudits in the Champions League this season.

First, Achraf Hakimi was lurking outside the penalty area to race in and pounce on Emiliano Martínez's spilled save to fire the Ligue 1 champions ahead.

Just 17 minutes later, Nuno Mendes pulled away from his natural wide position, occupied a central area and fired in from the edge of the area to give PSG a 5-1 aggregate lead.

It's clear to see that Luis Enrique has unleashed the full attacking potential of all his players recently, and not just from the likes of top scorer Ousmane Dembélé and forward Bradley Barcola.

Whoever PSG face in the semi-final will perhaps be more concerned with stopping Hakimi and Mendes as a priority, rather than focusing solely on Les Parisens' star players.

Emery's Villa nearly achieved the impossible

Despite going 2-0 down early on in the second leg against PSG, there was never a sense of doom and gloom around Villa Park.

With every attack forward, the home crowd rose to their feet, expectant of achieving one of the most unlikely comebacks in European football from 5-1 down on aggregate.

Unai Emery's side certainly gave it a good go and Youri Tielemans pulled a goal back for the Midlands outfit before half time to set up a sensational second period.

Villa emerged from half time with a renewed optimism and returning captain John McGinn beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a dipping strike from 20 yards.

In an electric two minutes, Ezri Konsa struck from Marcus Rashford's cut-back and the Villans came close to levelling on aggregate several times, but some miraculous Donnarumma heroics brought an end to Villa's rousing European campaign.

Rashford loves playing against PSG

Few would have expected Marcus Rashford to be running rings around PSG in the Champions League quarter final four months ago.

But the Man United loanee has been back to his absolute best in recent weeks and continued his upturn in form with an impressive second-half display to play a key role in Villa's near-comeback against Les Parisiens.

The English forward showed glimpses of his former self, who once tormented PSG for United in the 2018/19 and 2020/21 Champions Leagues, setting up Ezri Konsa for Villa's match-winning third on the night.

However, it was the nature of Rashford's assist that really showed how confident he is right now.

After controlling a loose ball on the right flank, the 27-year-old jinked past two PSG defenders with ease and then had the vision to pick out Konsa inside a crowded penalty area.

Rashford is the man of the moment and continues to show his qualities to mix it with the best of the best in a rejuvenated campaign.

Serhou Guirassy can hold his head high

When Serhou Guirassy clipped in an elegant panneka against Barcelona, there were slim hopes around the Westfalenstadion that Dortmund would complete the most unlikely of comebacks.

With an elite goalscorer like Guirassy in their ranks, the Dortmund faithful would be well within their rights to believe the unbelievable, especially when the Guinea striker headeard in his second of the evening after half time and completed his hat-trick with 14 minutes remaining.

Inevitably, Guirassy's efforts were in vain as Dortmund's task of overcoming a 4-0 defeat at Barcelona from the first-leg proved just a bit too much.

Despite an earlier than wanted exit from the Champions League, Guirassy has been one of the star players of this season's competition, providing 13 goals in just 13 appearances.

It's been a remarkable solo campaign for the 29-year-old, who has surpassed some Dortmund legends in Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski to become the highest-ever Dortmund scorer in a single UCL campaign (albeit in the first-ever expanded version of the tournament).

📸 INA FASSBENDER - AFP or licensors