Mbappe nets twice as PSG stun Barcelona to reach semi-final

Paris Saint-Germain claimed a 4-1 win in the second-leg for a 6-4 aggregate triumph to reach their first Champions League semi-final in three years

Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) thrashed a ten-man Barcelona 4-1 to turn around a first-leg deficit for a 6-4 victory and reach the semi-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday night.

PSG had trailed 3-2 after the first leg in France but reached the last four for the first time since 2021 after a chaotic encounter in Spain.

Luis Enrique’s side will face Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final after they beat Atletico Madrid 5-4 on aggregate in another thrilling encounter in Germany.

The visitors started the brighter of the two at five-time champions Barcelona’s temporary home - the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

But it was the Catalan side who struck first when Lamine Yamal drove down the right-hand side, beating Nuno Mendes and clipping over for Raphinha to score from close range.

The task ahead looked daunting for PSG at that point, needing to score two goals just to level the score on aggregate with the crowd heavily against them.

But things began to unravel when Barca defender Ronald Araujo received a straight red card for clipping Bradley Barcola just outside the area and denying a clear goalscoring opportunity in the 29th minute.

Araujo appeared to argue that his centre-back partner Pau Cubarsi was covering, meaning he was not the last man, but the video assistant referee stuck with the referee’s on-field decision, leaving Barcelona to play 60 minutes with 10 men.

Ousmane Dembele capitalised on the advantage when, against his former side, he fired into the roof of the net from Barcola’s whipped ball across the six-yard box.

Vitinha was given acres of space on the edge of the Barcelona box and hit a sweet strike into the bottom corner nine minutes after the break to make it 2-1 on the night and 4-4 on aggregate.

PSG’s remarkable recovery continued when Joao Cancelo brought down Dembele in the box and Mbappe converted the spot-kick to fire his side into the lead.

After being kept quiet for much of the two legs, Mbappe then stepped up and smashed into the net in the 89th minute to cap two highly entertaining quarter-final matches.

The two semi-final first legs take place on separate nights, on April 30 and May 1, with the second legs on May 7 and 8.

Since being taken over by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011, PSG have won nine Ligue 1 titles but have failed to deliver the ownership’s main ambition of winning the Champions League. They reached the final in 2020 but lost to Bayern Munich and have since reached the semis once and gone out in the last 16 twice.