Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Barcelona (3-5 agg): Match report & 3 talking points as Blaugrana book semi-final spot

Barcelona booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals despite falling to a 3-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the second leg of their quarter-final tie.

La Blaugrana were emphatic 4-0 winners during the first leg and triumphed 5-3 on aggregate, but were made to sweat by their German adversaries on Tuesday evening as Serhou Guirassy scored a hat-trick in Dortmund's victory on the night.

Barcelona just about held on to their aggregate advantage in the closing stages and have secured a clash with either Inter or Bayern Munich in the final four.

How the game unfolded

Few offered Dortmund any hope of staging a historic comeback but that sentiment wasn't shared by the raucous Signal Iduna Park crowd. The deafening volume inside the stadium fuelled a wave of early pressure from the hosts, who deservedly reduced Barcelona's aggregate lead in the 11th minute as Guirassy converted from the spot.

Pascal Gross was the man felled in the penalty area by the lunging frame of Wojciech Szczesny and the midfield general, who missed the first leg through suspension, delivered Barcelona another warning sign as he fired beyond the Polish goalkeeper five minutes later. Fortunately for the visitors, the offside flag denied BVB a second.

Barcelona were able to take the sting out of proceedings at the half-hour mark but struggled to shackle Dortmund's array of attacking threats. Yellow and black shirts continued to unnerve the Catalans' rearguard, who were relieved to enter half-time having conceded just once following wasted efforts from Maximilian Beier and Karim Adeyemi.

But Barcelona's defence were not so fortunate just four minutes after the restart as Dortmund closed the gap further. Guirassy, who scored twice in the league phase battle between the teams, was the thorn in their side once again, heading home Ramy Bensebaini's pass to perturb the visitors.

Bensebaini was the architect of Dortmund's second but swiftly turned villain as he restored Barcelona's three-goal aggregate lead. The defender rattled Fermin Lopez's near-post cross into his own net as hopes of an astonishing comeback started to evaporate.

Guirassy reignited belief inside Signal Iduna Park as he profited from a terrible clearance by Ronald Araujo to fire beyond Szczesny and claim the match ball, but Dortmund were unable to muster any more goals in the dying embers despite their relentless pressure as Barcelona unconvincingly secured their place in the next round.

Player ratings

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Barcelona survive scare

There can be no denying that Tuesday's performance was not Barcelona's finest this season. They were overpowered during the first half as the decibels rose inside Signal Iduna Park and they showed signs of nerves during the second period, too. It was far from a vintage showing as they offered Dortmund more than a glimmer of hope.

Hansi Flick will have been far from impressed by what he witnessed from his side, whose complacency almost proved costly. While Dortmund remained some distance from completing a staggering comeback, supporters back in Barcelona will have been biting their nails furiously in the closing stages on what should have been a routine evening.

Such a lackadaisical performance will almost certainly be exploited by Inter or Bayern in the next round.

Dortmund exploit high line

Barcelona's attacking superiority is what decided the first leg but Dortmund were still able to cause defensive issues for La Blaugrana at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys. Guirassy was guilty of wasting several excellent openings which could have changed the complexion of the tie but he was not so wasteful on Tuesday

The Dortmund forward was regularly supplied by teammates as the hosts repeatedly beat the offside trap set by Barcelona's ludicrously high line. Midfield runs from Gross went unchecked, while the likes of Beier and Adeyemi both used their speed to cause chaos when Niko Kovac's side took a direct approach.

Individual errors didn't help - Szczesny gifting Dortmund their first and Araujo handing out their third - but, not for the first time this season, Barcelona's aggressive defensive line was punished. They will find it difficult to win the Champions League leaving such enormous space in behind and Flick may have to change tack in the semis.

Quiet evening for forward trio

Barcelona have been characterised by their stunning attacking displays this season but their fearsome forward triumvirate have seldom been as subdued as they were in Dortmund.

Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski combined for just two shots on Tuesday - registering an expected goals total of 0.07 - and were anonymous during a disappointing Barcelona performance.

They lacked their usual swagger and energy in the final third, playing with a half-hearted interest in what was going on around them. There was plenty of room for them to unleash their attacking potential as Dortmund pressed and harried, but they failed to find their footing in a tough environment.

Of course, this was just a one-off evening of sub-par displays among Barcelona's all-conquering attacking unit, but they can't afford to go missing as they did in Germany during the remainder of their Champions League campaign.

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