PSG beat Barcelona to reach Champions League semi-finals

Kylian Mbappe struck twice as Paris Saint-Germain battled back to beat 10-man Barcelona 4-1 and book a place in the Champions League semi-finals with a 6-4 aggregate triumph on Tuesday.

Raphinha fired Barcelona ahead early on but Ronald Araujo's 29th-minute red card turned the tide in PSG's favour, despite the Spanish champions leading by two goals following a 3-2 quarter-final first-leg win.

Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha levelled the tie for PSG and the deadly Mbappe hit a brace to put them into the final four for the first time since 2021.

The French champions have never won the trophy despite huge investment but demonstrated they have the attacking weapons in their squad to do so.

PSG coach Luis Enrique, who led Barca to the 2015 Champions League, said he believed his team would turn things around despite never having managed to after a first-leg home defeat, and so it proved.

"It looked bad but the team concentrated -- whatever happened, we had to beat Barcelona," said Dembele, whistled heavily by fans of his former club.

Five-time winners Barcelona were dreaming of a first semi-final return since 2019 but Araujo's red card for pulling down the relentless Bradley Barcola undermined their grip on the tie.

It became another in a series of European nightmares for the Catalans, who last won the trophy in 2015.

"In Europe playing with 10 you know you are going to suffer," Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong told Movistar.

"We tried and we fought to be in the semi-finals, it's a tough blow because we were convinced we could get through."

(AFP)

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