Key events
61 min The mood has changed and for the first time all night it feels like Barcelona are in control.
59 min Nmecha pushes a pass out to Beier, who screws wide of the near post from a tight angle. Not a bad chance, that.
59 min: Barcelona substitution Pedro on, Gavi off.
58 min Barcelona have responded admirably to that second goal; in fact they’re having their best spell of the whole match. Frenkie de Jong has been really good in midfield.
57 min This tie is (probably) over. The one at Villa Park, not so much. Scott Murray has the latest from what sounds like a pulsating game.
56 min Nmecha is booked for a foul on Gavi.
Fermin Lopez ran into space down the right and hammered a dangerous low cross towards Lewandowski. Bensebaini, at the near post, couldn’t sort his feet and bulleted it past Kobel.
GOAL! Dortmund 2-1 Barcelona (Bensebaini og 54)
That could be a killer blow.
52 min Yamal’s long shot deflects behind for a corner. It’s swung deep, headed down and claimed by Kobel.
A wicked inswinging corner from Svensson on the right was headed back across goal by Bensebaini and nodded in from a couple of yards by Guirassy. He’s on a hat-trick and Dortmund are dreaming of immortality.
GOAL! Dortmund 2-0 Barcelona (agg: 2-4; Guirassy 49)
Hello!
48 min: Double save by Szczesny! Adeyemi scores past Kounde and drives a low shot that Szczesny saves really well with his left foot. The loose ball is touched off to Gross, whose shot is pushed way to his left by Szczesny.
47 min “Please!” is the subject of Matt Dony’s email. “Quickfire double shortly after the restart, followed by a moment of genius at a corner? Anyone? I mean, objectively, could there be anything funnier than seeing it happen to Barcelona again?”
46 min Dortmund begin the second half.
“The true story of an idiot not paying attention,” begins Paul McGrory. “I flicked the match on to have a quick look at the score (sound down). 1-0 to Dortmund, and Barcelona had a player sent off – the little red card beside the BAR on the TV. This is on! Watched for 10 minutes. Looked at the score again, and noticed Dortmund had a player booked – little yellow card beside the DOR. Thought ‘Isn’t it weird that Dortmund play in yellow and had a player booked, and Barcelona have some red in their kit, and they’ve had a man sent off. What a coincidence.’ Then I worked it out. Then I realised that I’ve lived longer than I have left, and that’s probably a good thing.”
The xG according to TNT Sports
Borussia Dortmund 2.05-0.02 Barcelona
GOAL! Dortmund 1-0 Barcelona (agg: 1-4)
There’s still a bit of life in this tie. Dortmund lead through an early Panenka from Serhou Guirassy, and on the balance of play they should be at least 2-0 up. Barcelona will almost certainly still go through, but it’s not a done deal.
45 min Two minutes of added time.
43 min Beier beats the offside trap, running down the right onto a good pass from Guirassy. He moves into the area and slides a pass that is well cut out, I think by Araujo. That was a real chance for Dortmund.
40 min “Villa are being shown their place by the imperious PSG in the other match,” says Krishnamoorthy V. “The best thing that had happened to PSG is the departure of Mbappe.”
It’ll be such a great story if they win with a team of anti-galacticos. I thought they were magnificent in the first leg against Villa and both games against Liverpool.
39 min: Chance for Barcelona! The unmarked Kounde, still up following a corner, miscontrols a lovely cross from the left, which allows Kobel to drive bravely at his feet.
Good save by Szczesny!
37 min Adeyemi speeds onto a lofted pass in the inside-left channel. Kounde gets back to challenge but Adeyemi rifles a left-footed drive that is well blocked at the near post by Szczesny. He struck it really well, though maybe a cross was the better option.
Says Kevin De Bruyne over here.
35 min De Jong is booked for a poor challenge on Nmecha, studs into the ankle.
32 min Barcelona are stirring. Raphinha plays a slick one-two with Lewandowski on the edge of the area and is about to shoot when the ball is taken off his toe.
31 min A majestic first-time pass from Lewandowski releases Raphinha on the left. He leaves the ball slightly behind and Sule is able to get back and make a vital challenge, one that he celebrates with a Joelinton.
30 min: Big chance for Beier! Gross’s superb free-kick is headed straight at Szczesny by Beier, 10 yards out. That was a great chance, though it looked like he might be offside.
29 min Adeyemi has been a constant threat on the Dortmund left. He waves a pass across the field to Yan Couto, who is bundled over from behind by Raphinha. Free-kick to Dortmund on the right wing, about 25 yards from goal…
26 min Fermin Lopez misses a good chance, poking into the side netting, though as it turned out he was offside.
25 min It was 1-0 at this stage of La Remontada eight years ago. Could that be an omen.
23 min De Jong waves his hands in frustration after being jostled out of possession in midfield. Barcelona have been a little bit better in the next few minutes but they don’t look happy.
20 min Adeyemi runs at Kounde to win a corner. Dortmund have been terrific and high-pressing teams like PSG, who could meet Barcelona later in the competition, will be taking notes.
The corner is swung to the far post and met by Bensebaini, whose downward header from the angle is comfortably saved by Szczesny. That’s Dortmund’s fifth shot on target.
18 min Gerard Martin kicks the ball away and is given a warning by the referee. Is that a yellow-card offence in Uefa competitions? Not sure. You’re welcome!
16 min Gross has a goal disallowed for offside. This time Barcelona’s high line – a seriously high line, almost at the centre circle – worked, but Dortmund will fancy their chances of breaking that offside trap again.
15 min There’s also been an early goal in the other game at Villa Park. Scott Murray has more.
14 min Barcelona are surprisingly ragged. You’d expect them to take control of the game at some stage but they haven’t started well at all.
GOAL! Dortmund 1-0 Barcelona (agg: 1-4; Guirassy 11)
Serhou Guirassy clips a Panenka high into the net! For a second I thought he’d got too much on it, but it rippled the net and Dortmund have a soupçon of hope against Barça.
9 min: Penalty to Dortmund! It’s been coming. Gross runs onto Adeyemi’s pass and is brought down by Szczesny, a daft challenge with Gross moving away from goal. There’s a check for offside but Gross timed his run nicely.
6 min: More chances for Dortmund! Svensson, unmarked in the D, shoots straight Szczesny. Within seconds, Adeyemi crosses towards Guirassy, who slips and can’t make proper contact with his shot. Cubarsi (I think) boots the ball away desperately. Then Yan Couto collides with Gavi in the area and goes down in a lot of pain. It was a collision rather than a foul so no penalty. But Dortmund really should be ahed.
5 min: Chance for Dortmund! That was almost the perfect start for Dortmund. Adeyemi found the overlapping left wing-back Svensson, whose low cross took a touch off Cubarsi and reached Guirassy. His close-range volley was really well saved by Szczesny.
The flag went up against Guirassy, so had he scored it wouldn’t have counted.
4 min Beyer seizing on a loose touch but then gets a bit giddy and shoots straight at Szczesny from 25 yards. A pass to Guirassy was the better option.
3 min Plenty of early Barcelona possession. I must say, given Dortmund’s hopeless situation, the atmosphere is tremendous.
1 min Peep peep! Barcelona, in their Cagliari-style kit of red and blue halves, kick off from right to left as we watch.
The players gather round the centre circle to pay tribute to Dortmund legend Wilhelm Burgsmuller, who died last week aged 93.
A reminder of the teams
Borussia Dortmund (3-4-2-1) Kobel; Sule, Anton, Bensebaini, Yan Couto, Gross, Nmecha, Svensson; Beier, Adeyemi; Guirassy.
Substitutes: Meyer, Laurenz Lotka, Ozcan, Reyna, Brandt, Duranville, Ryerson, Watjen, Mane, Kabar, Bynoe-Gittens.
Barcelona (4-2-3-1) Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Gerard; de Jong, Gavi; Yamal, Lopez, Raphinha; Lewandowski.
Subs: Pena, Kochen, Martinez, Torres, Gonzalez, Fati, Torre, Christensen, Victor, Olmo, Garcia, Fort.
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
“Having a hard time building up any enthusiasm for either of these ties,” says Joe Pearson. “Sure, this Barcelona team isn’t Messi and Suarez, but this Dortmund team isn’t 2019 Liverpool, either. I just don’t see a dramatic turnaround here. And in the other match, this PSG team are not the bottlers of prior years. Might have to take a nap (I’m retired after all) instead. No offence.”
I’m with you. I think there’s an outside chance of a mad night at Villa Park, but I expect Barcelona and PSG to reach the final, never mind the semis.
The head-to-head
It’s quite surprising, given the status of both clubs, that this is the first time they’ve met in the knockout stages of a European competition. These are their meetings to date:
-
1997-98: Uefa Super Cup
Barcelona 2-0 Dortmund
Dortmund 1-1 Barcelona -
2019-20: Champions League group stage
Dortmund 0-0 Barcelona
Barcelona 3-1 Dortmund -
2024-25: League stage
Dortmund 2-3 Barcelona -
2024-25: Quarter-final
Barcelona 4-0 Dortmund
There are four changes from the Barcelona side that won against Levante on Saturday. Gerard Martin, Pau Cubarsi, Frenkie de Jong and Gavi come in for Alejandro Balde, who is injured, Eric Garcia, Inigo Martinez and Pedri.
Borussia Dortmund make four changes from their 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich at the weekend.
In Yan Couto, Ramy Bensebaini, Felix Nmecha, Karim Adeyemi.
Out Emre Can, Julian Brandt, Julian Ryerson, Salih Ozcan.
Tonight’s other Champions League could be a cracker: Aston Villa v Paris Saint-Germain (1-3 agg). Scott Murray is covering that.
The players on a yellow card
Borussia Dortmund Yan Couto, Bensebaini, Guirassy, Beier, Adeyemi.
Barcelona Martinez.
Team news
Borussia Dortmund (3-4-2-1) Kobel; Sule, Anton, Bensebaini, Yan Couto, Gross, Nmecha, Svensson; Beier, Adeyemi; Guirassy.
Substitutes: Meyer, Laurenz Lotka, Ozcan, Reyna, Brandt, Duranville, Ryerson, Watjen, Mane, Kabar, Bynoe-Gittens.
Barcelona (4-2-3-1) Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Gerard; de Jong, Gavi; Yamal, Lopez, Raphinha; Lewandowski.
Subs: Pena, Kochen, Martinez, Torres, Gonzalez, Fati, Torre, Christensen, Victor, Olmo, Garcia, Fort.
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Borussia Dortmund v Barcelona in the Champions League. Look, I’m not sure how to break this to you, but there might not be much to see here. Barcelona lead 4-0 after a blistering first leg performance and are almost certain to reach their first Champions League semi-final since 2019.
That’s where the but comes in. The 2019 semi-final six years ago was a reminder of football’s vicissitudes: Barcelona went to Anfield for the second leg armed with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and a 3-0 lead. You know the rest. Even so, if Dortmund go through tonight, it’ll be one of the most astonishing turnarounds in football history.
Kick off 8pm BST.
