Serhou Guirassy’s instinctive hat-trick in a 3-1 victory was not enough for Borussia Dortmund to seal a memorable comeback as Barcelona progressed to the last four despite sustaining their first defeat across all competitions of 2025.

Key moments

11′: Guirassy chips confident spot kick

49′: BVB No9 nods in from close range

54′: Bensebaini turns cross into own net

76′: Guirassy seals hat-trick with instinctive finish

Match in brief: Guirassy treble almost sparks turnaround

Borussia Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy chipped his spot kick to open the scoringGetty Images

With Dortmund aiming to become only the second side in the UEFA Champions League to overcome a four-goal deficit from the first leg of a knockout tie, after Barcelona themselves in 2016/17, and yet to register their first victory in this fixture, history was stacked against Niko Kovač’s side after the 4-0 defeat in the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

As it happened: Dortmund 3-1 Barcelona

However, the hosts began in the fashion of a team determined to rewrite the record books. Guirassy, Maximilian Beier and Daniel Svensson all tested visiting goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny in the space of two minutes early on, with Karim Adeyemi almost teeing up the lively Guirassy with a close-range finish soon afterwards.

The Guinea international striker was afforded the opportunity to give his team the lead from the spot after Pascal Gross’ run was impeded by Szczęsny, with the Dortmund forward beating the former Polish international from the spot with a delightful lofted Panenka penalty down the centre.

Guirassy pounces to nod in his second of the eveningAFP via Getty Images

The Blaugrana keeper was perfectly positioned to claim Ramy Bensebaini and Beier headers, as well as repelling a crisp Adeyemi strike as the Bundesliga outfit maintained their attacking intensity in a strong first-half showing.

The interval did not disrupt BVB’s attacking rhythm, with Adeyemi and Gross forcing Szczęsny into action barely two minutes after the restart.

Hopes of a famous comeback ramped up just seconds later when the determined Bensebaini applied a towering header at the far post to direct Svensson’s deep, inswinging corner back into the middle, with Guirassy in the right spot to nod in from close range.

Barcelona celebrate reaching the semi-finalsAFP via Getty Images

Thoughts of a night in Dortmund to match Barça’s La Remontada of eight years ago were temporarily shelved shortly afterwards when Fermín López’s low centre, looking for the run of the competition’s leading marksman this season coming into this second leg, Raphinha, was deflected past Gregor Kobel by the unfortunate Bensebaini.

But the 1996/97 winners persisted with applying pressure to the Barcelona back line and moved to within two goals on aggregate once again when Guirassy powered into the roof of the net to claim the match ball with a piece of innate forward play when a Ronald Araújo clearance fell at the feet of the attacker.

Despite the lift of Guirassy completing his treble, Dortmund were unable to fashion further opportunities to add their name to the list of notable Champions League comebacks.

PlayStation® Player of the Match: Serhou Guirassy (Dortmund)

“He was very clinical in front of goal with great overall statistics.”

UEFA Technical Observer Group

PlayStation® Player of the Match Serhou GuirassyUEFA via Getty Images

Matthias Rötters, reporter

Last year, the journey ended in the final. This year, BVB exit the competition in the quarter-finals. Nevertheless, Dortmund go out with their heads held high. Only two goals were missing in the end to wipe out Barcelona’s four-goal lead from the first leg. Barça wavered at times, but ultimately were not subjected to a famous comeback to rival their own in 2016/17.

Reaction 

Niko Kovač, Dortmund coach: “We all saw a great game of football, especially from my team. It was high intensity with a lot of forward pressure. I’m obviously disappointed that we were knocked out, but we inflicted Barcelona’s first defeat in 2025 and that says a lot. We can be very proud of ourselves.”

Gregor Kobel, Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper: “Tonight wasn’t magical in the end, but it was good. We put ourselves in a difficult position in the first leg. Our aim was to get the maximum out of today. We knew that anything is possible against any opponents in this stadium. Mentally, we did everything right, but in the end we weren’t fully rewarded. That’s a great pity.”

Guirassy: ‘We can move mountains in our stadium’

Hansi Flick, Barcelona coach: “We are in the semi-finals. They have a great team and made life very difficult for us, but we’re through to the next round and that’s what counts. We didn’t play at our best today but that was also down to Dortmund, who did really well. What the team has achieved in recent weeks is phenomenal. We’re now one step further, but we’re still a long way from the end.”

Fermín López, Barcelona midfielder: “Dortmund have a really good team, you saw that today. Last week we made them suffer at our place. Today we suffered here, but in the end we were able to limit the damage. We’re now in the semi-finals and can draw a lot of strength from this game today because it was a big task.”

Lewandowski: ‘We can learn from this’

Key stats

• This was Barcelona’s first defeat in 25 outings across all competitions, since a 2-1 reverse against Atleti on 21 December.
• Guirassy became only the fourth Dortmund player to register a Champions League hat-trick, after Robert Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Karim Adeyemi.
• The BVB forward’s treble was the first scored in the Champions League quarter-finals since Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema in 2021/22.
• Guirassy took his tally to 15 goals in 18 Champions League appearances; only Erling Haaland (21) has registered more strikes at this stage of a career in this competition.
• The Guinean international’s 13 goals this term has set a new club record for most Dortmund goals in a Champions League season.

Fantasy star performers

Serhou Guirassy: 17 pointsFermín López: 6 pointsRamy Bensebaini: 5 points

Pascal Gross: 5 points

Line-ups

Dortmund: Kobel; Süle, Anton, Bensebaini; Yan Couto (Brandt 77), Gross, Nmecha (Reyna 64), Svensson; Adeyemi (Gittens 77), Guirassy, Beier (Duranville 64)

Barcelona: Szczęsny; Koundé, Cubarsi, Ronald Araújo, Gerard Martín; Gavi (Pedri 59), De Jong; Fermín López (Eric García 70); Yamal (Ferran Torres 70), Lewandowski (Olmo 86), Raphinha

What’s next?

Barcelona will face the winners of the Bayern vs Inter tie in the semi-finals.