On April 15, at Signal Iduna Park, Borussia Dortmund looked for a time as if they might achieve something extraordinary. Despite Barcelona coming to Germany with a commanding 4-0 advantage from the first leg, Dortmund refused to play like a team already beaten. The home side came out with urgency from the start and Serhou Guirassy soon provided something for the stadium to believe in.

Guirassy scored a penalty in the 11th minute, and all of a sudden the mood was different. Dortmund could sense the momentum changing. Barcelona replied with an own goal from Ramy Bensebaini early in the second half, but Guirassy was not done. He doubled his tally in the 49th minute and completed his hat-trick in the 76th as Dortmund claimed a 3-1 win on the night.

The trouble was that first leg. Barcelona’s 4-0 win had made for a mountain that Dortmund simply could not get over all the way. In Germany, Dortmund won the battle but lost the war 5-3 on aggregate when the final whistle went. The result was weighty for Barcelona. The club had not made the Champions League semi-finals since 2019, and their progress was a major milestone for Hansi Flick’s team. Kudos to Dortmund for the fight. They made a seemingly routine second leg a real examination, giving their fans 90 minutes of hope. But Barcelona did the hard yards in the first encounter.