Soccer-Mbappe scores twice as PSG beat 10-man Barca to reach semi-finals

Soccer Football – Champions League – Quarter Final – Second Leg – FC Barcelona v Paris St Germain – Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Barcelona, Spain – April 16, 2024 Paris St Germain’s Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/Juan Medina

By Fernando Kallas

BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) -Paris St Germain’s Kylian Mbappe scored twice in the second half to help his side to a 4-1 comeback win at 10-man Barcelona in their Champions League quarter-final, second leg to wrap up a 6-4 aggregate victory on Tuesday.

Soccer Football – Champions League – Quarter Final – Second Leg – FC Barcelona v Paris St Germain – Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Barcelona, Spain – April 16, 2024 Paris St Germain’s Nordi Mukiele, Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi celebrate after the match REUTERS/Juan Medina

They will next face Borussia Dortmund, who they played in the group stage, after the Germans beat Atletico Madrid.

Having failed to get past the round of 16 in the last two seasons and being pinned against the ropes by a Barca side who won the first leg 3-2, PSG put on a gritty performance to make the most of the home side’s mistakes and turn the tie around.

Soccer Football – Champions League – Quarter Final – Second Leg – FC Barcelona v Paris St Germain – Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Barcelona, Spain – April 16, 2024 FC Barcelona’s Raphinha in action with Paris St Germain’s Lucas Hernandez and Achraf Hakimi REUTERS/Albert Gea

Manager Luis Enrique made three changes from the defeat in Paris. Bringing in Bradley Barcola up-front was crucial as the France winger was a constant menace to Barca’s defence, running up and down the left channel as PSG dominated from the start.

But Barcelona seemed comfortable to sit back and counter attack, with Raphinha giving them the lead in the 12th minute.

Teenager Lamine Yamal took a long pass in his stride before slicing past Nuno Mendes in the right channel and putting the ball on a plate for the Brazilian to score the opener.

Barca then wasted a chance to extend their lead when Robert Lewandowski missed from close range and were down to 10 men just before the half-hour after last man Ronald Araujo was shown a red card for a foul on Barcola just outside the penalty area.

The Uruguay defender and his Barca team mates argued with the referee, saying it was a shoulder charge and Pau Cubarsi was close by and ready to challenge Barcola, but it was in vain and Araujo eventually made his way off the field.

Former Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele put the resulting free kick just wide but did not miss the target nine minutes later, firing home for the visitors in the 40th to equalise on the night from another great play by Barcola.

Soccer Football – Champions League – Quarter Final – Second Leg – FC Barcelona v Paris St Germain – Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Barcelona, Spain – April 16, 2024 Paris St Germain’s Kylian Mbappe scores their third goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Juan Medina

PSG PRESSURE

PSG were back on top in the second half and piled on the pressure until Vitinha finally managed to put the visitors in front on the night after 54 minutes.

Dembele played a short corner to Achraf Hakimi, who rolled a pass to Vitinha just outside the area and the Portuguese midfielder had all the time in the world to slot a shot just inside Marc Andre ter Stegen’s right-hand post.

PSG kept up the pressure and in the 61st minute Barca full back Joao Cancelo made a reckless sliding tackle to take down Dembele and concede a penalty that Mbappe fired into the top corner to make it 3-1 as PSG moved ahead in the tie.

As Barca tried to find a goal to take the game to extra time, France striker Mbappe made the most of a counter attack to score from close-range and wrap up a semi-final place.

“Everyone believed in it. We didn’t give up,” Dembele told Canal+ “We knew we were going to score goals. It was great work from the whole team. The coach’s tactics were perfect. We made a great effort after conceding the first goal.

“Qualifying for the semi-final is a big thing. We’re crossing our fingers to make it to the final. We’ll have to recover well.”

(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Ken Ferris)