Mbappé stars, PSG oust Barcelona to reach Champions League semis
Dortmund dig deep to beat Atlético
clubs in organizing major tournaments. The tournament, spanning from April 16 to 19, is taking place at the ice skating rink of the Kuwait Winter Games Club in the Bayan area.
BARCELONA, Spain, April 17, (AP): Playing with an extra man for more than an hour, Paris Saint-Germain rallied against Barcelona to reach the Champions League semifinals.
Kylian Mbappé scored twice as PSG reversed its first-leg loss at home with a 4-1 win at Barcelona to advance 6-4 on aggregate and keep alive its hopes of a first European title in what is the France star’s final season with the club.
Former Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembélé and Vitinha also scored for PSG, which took advantage of a 29th-minute red card to Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo after he fouled Bradley Barcola while trying to stop a breakaway.
“When it was 11 against 11 we were well organized. The sending off changes everything. The match changed completely,” said Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández, who was later sent off himself for complaining. “We would have liked to play PSG 11 against 11. That should not have been a red card.”
SOCCER
Barcelona had gotten off to a good start and opened the scoring with a goal by Raphinha in the 12th, but the visitors took control with the man advantage and didn’t let Barcelona get back into the game. Xavi had to replace young forward Lamine Yamal with defender Iñigo Martínez after the red card to Araujo, who was deemed by the referee to be the last defender when he fouled Barcola.
PSG is back in the semifinals after two consecutive eliminations in the round of 16.
The Catalan side, which won the first leg 3-2 in Paris last week, made it to the knockout stage of Europe’s top club competition after back-to-back eliminations in the group stage.
Mbappé scored his goals in the 61st and 89th minutes. The France star is hoping to win what would be a first Champions League title for himself and for PSG before he leaves the club.
Barcelona opened the scoring in its first attack with a fortuitous goal by Raphinha after Lamine Yamal’s low cross from the right side bounced off the shin of the Brazil forward and went into the net.
PSG equalized about 10 minutes after Araujo was sent off, with Dembélé finding the net by the far post after a cross by Barcola. Dembélé, named the man of the match, was loudly jeered by the Barcelona crowd when he was substituted in the final minutes. He had also scored in the first leg in Paris.
PSG took the lead when Vitinha fired a low shot from outside the area in the 54th. The visitors increased their lead when Mbappé converted a penalty kick after Dembélé was brought down by João Cancelo inside the area.
Barcelona had chances to get back into the game, with Ilkay Gündogan hitting the post in the 56th and both Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha squandering chances toward the end of the match.
Mbappé’s second goal came from close range in a breakaway in the final minutes. He has now scored at least 40 club goals in all competitions for the third time in four seasons with PSG. He has scored 13 goals in his last 13 Champions League matches.
Xavi was sent off after kicking a cushion protecting a sideline camera in the 56th.
Marcel Sabitzer scored late and set up two goals to send Borussia Dortmund into the Champions League semifinals with a helter-skelter 4-2 win over Atlético Madrid.
After losing the first leg of their quarterfinal 2-1 in Madrid, Dortmund had to come from behind twice over two legs to advance 5-4 on aggregate.
Julian Brandt opened the scoring to level the tie before Sabitzer set up Ian Maatsen to give Dortmund a 2-0 lead on the night.
Atlético coach Diego Simeone responded with three changes at the break and they all paid off. A Mats Hummels own goal and goal from substitute Joaquín Correa put the Spanish side back in front on aggregate.
Then Sabitzer set up Niclas Füllkrug in the 71st minute for the Germany forward’s first goal after nine scoreless games, and Sabitzer scored himself three minutes later to send Dortmund into the last four.
Dortmund will face Paris SaintGermain again in the semifinals. PSG progressed to the final four with a 4-1 win at Barcelona. The teams played already this season with Dortmund losing 2-0 in Paris in their opening group match, then drawing 1-1 in their final game as Dortmund topped Group F.
The final will be played June 1 in London, where Dortmund lost the 2013 final 2-1 to bitter rival Bayern Munich.
The win stretched Dortmund’s unbeaten run at home in the Champions League to 10 games.
Atlético needed goalkeeper Jan Oblak at his best. He denied Brandt, then Karim Adeyemi, before Brandt finally made the breakthrough in the 34th, firing a powerful shot in off Oblak’s leg from a difficult angle after eluding former teammate Axel Witsel.
Sabitzer then combined with Maatsen, who surged past two defenders and fired the ball inside the far post in the 39th. It was the Dutch defender’s first Champions League goal.
But Atlético only needed four minutes after the break to level the tie when Hummels’ attempted clearance of Mario Hermoso’s header ended in his own net.
Correa should have scored shortly afterward when he nudged the ball wide. Simeone - dressed sharply in a black suit - flopped to the ground in frustration.
Correa made no mistake in the 64th when he fired in a rebound after his first attempt was blocked.
It put the visitors back in front, but Sabitzer was involved in both goals as Dortmund struck twice in three minutes to send the home fans wild.