Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé scored twice in the second half to help guide his side to a 4-1 comeback win at 10-man Barcelona in their Champions League quarterfinal second leg to wrap up a 6-4 aggregate victory on Tuesday.
PSG took advantage of a first-half red card to Barcelona defender Ronald Araújo to keep their hopes of the trophy alive in what is set to be Mbappé’s last season in Paris.
They will next face Borussia Dortmund, whom they played in the group stage, after the Germans beat Atletico Madrid.
Having failed to get past the round of 16 in the past 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.
Also Read: Kylian Mbappe Agrees Real Madrid Deal, to Join in Summer
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 counterattack, 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.
Barça 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 Araújo was shown a red card for a foul on Barcola just outside the penalty area.
The Uruguay defender and his Barça teammates argued with the referee, saying it was a shoulder charge and Pau Cubarsí 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 Dembélé 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.
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.
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández was sent off for complaining to the officials in the 56th minute.
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-André ter Stegen’s right-hand post.
PSG kept up the pressure, and in the 61st minute Barça full-back João Cancelo made a reckless sliding tackle to take down Dembele and concede a penalty that Mbappé fired into the top corner to make it 3-1 as PSG moved ahead in the tie.
As Barça tried to find a goal to take the game to extra time, France striker Mbappé made the most of a counterattack to score from close range and wrap up a semifinal 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 semifinal is a big thing. We’re crossing our fingers to make it to the final. We’ll have to recover well.”
By Agencies.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@kahawatungu.com or WhatsApp +254707482874
