While Real Madrid survived a second leg siege to beat Borussia Dortmund and qualify, PSG collapsed at Stamford Bridge, losing 0-2 to Chelsea in a thrilling encounter.
Aggregate score was 3-3, but the advantage was Chelsea’s as they benefitted from the away-goal rule and thus qualified for semi-final, thus repeating the 2012 feat, when they came back from a 3-1 loss to beat Napoli 4-1 in the last 16 en route to success in that year’s competition.
Thanks to an 87th minute late goal at Stamford Bridge by substitute Demba Ba, who added to Andre Schurrle’s first-half strike. The late goal was enough to see the 2012 champions through at the expense of the French champions.
Chelsea become only the third team since 1992 to overturn a 3-1 first-leg deficit in the Champions League knockout phase.
Chelsea trimmed PSG’s aggregate advantage through a 32nd-minute goal by Andre Schuerrle, but the French champions remained on course for the last four.
The hosts hit the bar through Schuerrle and Oscar early in the second half, but with time running out, substitute Ba bundled home from close range to take Chelsea into the semi-finals for the seventh time in 11 years.
Ba’s goal preserved Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten record in European quarter-finals and his glee was evident as he sprinted down the touchline in a manner reminiscent of his celebration when Porto eliminated Manchester United in 2004.
PSG had been on the verge of the semi-finals for the first time since 1995 and the only consolation for Laurent Blanc’s heartbroken side was that they remain on the brink of a successful Ligue 1 title defence.
Real Madrid survived a second-leg siege to beat Borussia Dortmund and qualify for the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday, losing 2-0 on the night but advancing 3-2 on aggregate.
Leading 3-0 from last week’s quarter-final first leg, the Spaniards would have killed off the tie had Angel Di Maria not had his early penalty saved.
A first-half brace by Marco Reus gave Dortmund hope but they could not repeat their win against Madrid in last season’s semi-finals.
Cristiano Ronaldo was on the Madrid bench because of a niggling knee injury so Angel Di Maria stepped up into the visitors’ attack and the Argentine had an early penalty saved before Dortmund’s Marco Reus breathed life into Borussia’s semi-final dreams with two goals in an electric opening 45 minutes.
Home fans had been praying for something like a repeat of last season’s 4-1 victory over Real at the Westfalenstadion in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, a tie the Budnesliga club went on to win.
Twelve months ago it was Robert Lewandowski who terrorised Real with all four goals, but on this occasion it was Reus who ran Madrid ragged.
Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller kept Borussia’s hopes alive when he pushed Di Maria’s penalty attempt away with 17 minutes gone after a dubious handball decision against Lukasz Piszczek.
At the other end, Henrikh Mkhitaryan fired wide with the goal at his mercy after good work from Lewandowski and Reus on the left wing.
But Reus was not to be denied when he pounced on Pepe’s mistimed header back to his own goalkeeper, rounded Iker Casillas and slotted into the empty net on 24 minutes.
Casillas then palmed the ball over the bar after Dortmund centre-back Mats Hummels powered in a header from Reus’ free-kick with half an hour gone as the hosts piled on the pressure.
Reus grabbed his second after more sloppy defending when he snapped up Asier Illarramendi’s poor back-pass and fed Lewandowski, and when the Poland star hit the post, Reus tapped home the rebound on 37 minutes to make it 2-0 at the break.
The biggest surprise of the first 45 minutes was that Real did not have a clear chance on goal aside from Di Maria’s saved penalty. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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