Barcelona reaches Champions League semifinals for first time since Messi era

Barcelona achieved a historic milestone by reaching the Champions League semifinals for the first time since Lionel Messi‘s departure — despite suffering a 3-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park.

In the quarter-final second leg match, Serhou Guirassy delivered a stellar performance with a hat-trick for Dortmund in minutes 11, 49, and 76 — while Barcelona‘s only goal came from Ramy Bensebaini‘s own goal in the 54th minute.

The commanding 4-0 victory in the first leg allowed Xavi Hernandez‘s side to advance to the semifinals with a 5-3 aggregate score — ending their long wait since last reaching this stage in the 2018-19 season.