There were huge shocks in the UEFA Champions League Tuesday night as French side Paris St-Germain and German outfit Borussia Dortmund overcame first leg losses to reach the semi finals of the competition.
In Spain, Kylian Mbappe scored twice as PSG who lost 3-2 at home thrashed Spanish giants Barcelona 4-1 at their temporary home, Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
The tie seemed to be over as a contest when the Catalans took the lead when youngster, Lamine Yamal drove down the right-hand side, beating Nuno Mendes and clipping over for Raphinha to score from close range and give Barca a 4-2 aggregate advantage in the 12th minute.
At this point, PSG needed to score two goals just to level the tie and three to win it.
Things however began to unravel for Barcelona when defender Ronald Araujo received a straight red card in the 29th minute for clipping Bradley Barcola just outside the area and denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Ousmane Dembele capitalised on the advantage when he fired into the roof of the net againat his former club in the 40th minute.
Panic set in for Barca when Vitinha scored in the 54th minute to make scores 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 Kylian Mbappe converted the spot-kick to fire his side into the lead in the 61st minute.
Mbappe who was kept quiet for much of the two legs then completed his brace in the 89th minute to give PSG a 6-3 aggregate win.
At the Signal Iduna Park, Borussia Dortmund reached their first Champions League semi-final in 11 years by producing a superb second-half comeback to beat Atletico Madrid 5-4 on aggregate.
Having lost the first leg 2-1 in Madrid, Dortmund quickly turned things around with Julian Brandt and Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen both scoring from tight angles in the first half.
But Atletico Madrid made it 2-1 on the night and 3-3 on aggregate when Mario Hermoso’s header deflected in off Dortmund defender Mats Hummels shortly after the restart.
Angel Correa then gave Atletico Madrid a 4-3 aggregate lead when he smashed in a rebounded finish from close range in the 64th minute.However, Dortmund levelled once again in a thrilling second half as Niclas Fullkrug finished off Marcel Sabitzer’s cross with a looping header after 71 minutes.
Sabitzer then struck Dortmund’s winner in the 74th minute with a drilled finish into the bottom corner to round off a sublime quarter-final tie and set up a semi-final against Paris St-Germain.
The quarter finals continue tonight with block-burster fixtures as German giants Bayern Munich take on English side Arsenal at the Alianz Arena while English champions, Manchester City host Spanish outfit, Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium
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.