Barca to stroll into the semis as they travel to Dortmund
Needing to serve Barcelona a taste of their own remontada medicine to stay alive in the Champions League, Borussia Dortmund host the Catalan giants in Tuesday’s quarter-final second leg at Signal Iduna Park.
The Bundesliga outfit were slaughtered 4-0 by Hansi Flick‘s side in the opening encounter last week, as La Blaugrana put one foot firmly in a semi-final showdown with either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich.
The Lionel Messi–Neymar–Luis Suarez front three at Barcelona may forever be remembered as one of the most fearsome attacking trios in history, but Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski sure are giving the terrifying trio a brilliant run for their money in that regard.
All three of Flick’s prolific attackers were on song in last week’s first leg, where Lewandowski struck twice against his old team either side of strikes from Raphinha and Yamal, the former of whom matched Messi’s club record for the most goal involvements in a single Champions League season (19).
Only Barcelona themselves (against Paris Saint-Germain in 2017) have ever completed such an astounding comeback, and Dortmund’s chronic inconsistency throughout a troubled 2024-25 campaign makes it nigh on impossible to envisage Niko Kovac‘s side repeating the Catalans’ trick on Tuesday.
BVB at least left with their pride in tact from Saturday’s Bundesliga Klassiker against Bayern Munich, holding the league leaders to a praiseworthy 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena, but they can only boast a measly three victories from their last 12 matches at the Signal Iduna Park, where the walls have come crumbling down.
With two wins over Dortmund and a 4-1 thrashing of Bayern to their name this season, Barca have won each of their last three UCL games against German teams after losing their previous five before that, signalling a shift in the balance of power as Flick’s side aim to live up to their favourites tag.
How Dortmund approach Tuesday’s fixture will be fascinating, as the German giants are practically down and out and have serious work to do in the Bundesliga, but nothing is over until it is over in the Champions League.
Last year’s runners-up have our vote to get a couple of goals back, but Barcelona’s phenomenal attack should have the final say as Flick’s side stroll into the semi-finals without too much fuss.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Aston Villa aim at captivating comeback against PSG
A special Champions League story could be written at Villa Park on Tuesday night, where Aston Villa aim to complete a captivating comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their quarter-final.
The Ligue 1 champions hop across the English Channel with a 3-1 advantage from the opening battle, but as Unai Emery knows all too well, the Parisiens are prone to a second-leg catastrophe.
After showcasing his punditry proficiency alongside Ally McCoist and Rio Ferdinand, His Royal Highness Prince William took his seat at the Parc des Princes, where his beloved Villa side sent the heir to the British throne into raptures through Morgan Rogers‘s back-post finish.
However, on an evening where embryonic attacking talents stole the show in the French capital, two exceptional strikes from Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia turned the first leg on its head, before PSG delivered one final gut punch through Nuno Mendes‘s 92nd-minute finish.
A 3-1 deficit is still far from insurmountable, but the difference between a one goal and two-goal disadvantage in the Champions League can be night and day, and Aston Villa have been eliminated on each of the previous two occasions where they have lost the first leg of a European knockout match by two or more goals.
Villa remain within a shot of qualifying for the 2025-26 Champions League via their Premier League position, and they now return to a ground where they have avoided defeat in each of their last 17 matches across all competitions, one of a few pleasing Villa Park statistics.
A side reborn since their disastrous start to the league phase – which even saw them flirt with an early exit from the Champions League – there is now genuine talk of PSG being the favourites for continental glory come the summer, if they can avoid falling back into old habits.
No side has ever been eliminated in four UCL knockout ties when winning the first leg by two goals or more, but the feeling around this current PSG outfit is different, as Luis Enrique and Luis Campos have harmonised a young group after the failures of the galacticos era.
Blessed with a near fully-fit squad for the second leg, Villa’s only injury concern at the minute is Jamaican attacker Leon Bailey, who is actually on the cusp of returning to the squad but will not come into contention for a starting berth.
Expect fireworks to fly at what will be a boisterous Villa Park on Tuesday night, where PSG should witness the best of English atmospheres on Champions League nights and also the best of Aston Villa on the offensive front.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Arsenal’s Jorginho to miss Real Madrid second leg
Arsenal midfielder Jorginho has been ruled out of their Champions League quarter-final second-leg match with Real Madrid on Wednesday with an injury.
The Italy midfielder, 33, was withdrawn in the final few minutes of Saturday’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Brentford with a suspected rib injury, meaning the Gunners finished the game with 10 men.
Arsenal are also assessing a knock picked up by Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey.
Arsenal are 3-0 up against European Champions Real as they head to the Bernabeu for the second leg (kick-off 20:00 BST).
Partey, 31, started the Brentford game at right-back but was taken off in the second half after he “felt something”, according to manager Mike Arteta.
Arteta will hold a news conference on Tuesday before his side’s biggest match of the season, with the Champions League representing Arsenal’s only realistic chance of a trophy in 2024-25.
Credit: bbc.com
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