Serhou Guirassy and Borussia Dortmund achieved what had hitherto eluded all other contenders in 2025 — a victory over Barcelona, a feat that nonetheless proved insufficient to secure passage to the Champions League semifinals.

Notwithstanding Guirassy's prodigious hat-trick, Dortmund's 3-1 victory over Barcelona—the Catalans' inaugural reverse since December—proved insufficient to avert a 5-3 aggregate capitulation.

Having been comprehensively outmanoeuvred with a 4-0 defeat in the initial leg of the quarterfinal, Dortmund, finding themselves in an entirely unencumbered position on Tuesday, immediately launched a relentless offensive against Barcelona, effectively unsettling the visiting side from the outset.

Barcelona's tactician, Hansi Flick, a seasoned veteran of Bundesligacontests with a commendable track record against Dortmund, posited that the fervent partisan support at their home ground presaged a formidable second leg, notwithstanding his side's commanding four-goal aggregate advantage.

"I had something of a presentiment that such an eventuality was nigh," Flick confided to the broadcaster Amazon Prime. "Today, one is compelled to extend felicitations to Dortmund; they evinced a superlative performance. Concurrently, a commendation is due to my own squad, who have duly attained the semi-final stage."

In an anomaly for their usually potent attacking duo, Barcelona's prodigious forwards Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, boasting 12 and 11 Champions League strikes apiece this term, endured a remarkably subdued encounter; their most significant foray towards goal a rather innocuous effort from Raphinha that failed to truly trouble the Dortmund custodian, Gregor Kobel.

Following a match that underscored his precipitous ascent and positioned him atop the Champions League scoring charts this season, coach Niko Kovac characterized Guirassy as Dortmund's "indispensable guarantor of survival," emphasizing that, "Serhou, like any other vanguard, merely requires the collective backing of his comrades-in-arms, a desideratum that was unequivocally furnished today."

Borussia Dortmund's quarter-final hopes were arguably scuppered in the initial leg, a setback exacerbated by the eleventh-hour unavailability of captain Emre Can and midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka through injury.

For a spell, Guirassy appeared to transcend the very bounds of plausibility.

Guirassy, having been profligate in the first leg and squandering further opportunities in the initial stages of Tuesday's fixture, demonstrated clinical precision from the penalty spot in the eleventh minute following a collision between the Barcelona goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, and Pascal Gross.

Guirassy's header extended the lead to 2-0 in the 49th minute, preceding a Ramy Bensebaini own goal which rendered Dortmund's predicament even more challenging; Fermín López's low cross, inadvertently deflected into the net off Bensebaini's ankle, compounded Dortmund's misfortune, particularly as the defender had proven instrumental in their attempted resurgence, having shortly before provided the assist for Guirassy's second strike.

Guirassy capitalised on a defensive lapse from Ronald Araujo to register his treble with a forceful, proximate strike in the 76th minute, thereby establishing himself as the season's preeminent marksman in the Champions League with 13 goals.

The goal galvanized Dortmund, imbuing them with a flickering hope of orchestrating a historic Champions League riposte, one that would have borne comparison to Barcelona's celebrated remontada against Paris Saint-Germain in 2017; however, Barcelona ultimately proved obdurate, safeguarding their passage to the next stage.

Barcelona is poised to confront either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich in the impending semifinals, marking their inaugural presence in the penultimate stage of the Champions League since the 2018-19 campaign, whilst Paris Saint-Germain, concurrently securing their semi-final berth, triumphed over Aston Villa with a 5-4 aggregate victory despite suffering a 3-2 reverse in the return fixture.

Beyond signifying Barcelona's initial loss across all competitive fixtures since the 2-1 reversal against Atletico Madrid on December 21, the outcome marked Barcelona's premiere defeat in the Champions League since September, constituting only the seventh setback in Flick's fifty-match tenure at the helm; the German tactician, prior to this encounter, had emerged victorious in all seven of his prior confrontations with Dortmund, presiding over both Barcelona and Bayern.

It is possible that Dortmund may face a period of protracted delay before the resonant strains of the Champions League anthem once again echo through their stadium.

The UEFA Champions League runner-up from the preceding season currently languishes in eighth position within the Bundesliga standings with but five fixtures remaining, finding themselves six points adrift of the quartet of coveted UEFA Champions League qualification berths.