Borussia Dortmund is eliminated from the 2024/2025 Champions League season. This outcome was predictable from what happened in the first leg in Barcelona; however, the Black-and-Yellows had a performance that gave the Yellow Wall goosebumps and hope that a miracle could have happened.
A completely alternative BVB team gave trouble to a Barcelona side that thought the first leg was enough to guarantee a spot in the semifinals. But the Catalans quickly realized that Dortmund would not give up that easily, showing a tremendous amount of character and courage to provide a new life to this matchup.
With a first half where only one team played, Dortmund surrounded Barcelona, and a 1-nil advantage was not enough to describe how Kovač's men were in shape and pulsing at the same heartbeat as the Signal Iduna Park. The xG different from that half exposes BVB's dominance, with a 2.14 against a 0.02 from Barça.
The second half started in a similar fashion, with Serhou Guirassy having his second after scoring a Panenka penalty. However, not every fairytale has a happy ending, I guess. On one of the few possessions where Barcelona was effective, Pascal Groß forgot to track Fermín López, who crossed to a Bensebaini own goal that killed BVB's momentum.
Even though every last piece of hope seemed to be gone, the Black-and-Yellows didn't stop chasing that miracle, and a Guirassy hat-trick put things back in perspective, 3-1. Brandt also had a score denied by offside, but eventually, time ran out, and elimination was then inevitable. And, still, I can't remember the last time I was so proud of supporting this club. Here are the player ratings from a brave display that could have been a historic night at Westfalenstadion: