Centre-back Ronald Araujo was sent off in the 29th minute, leading to Barcelona’s 1-4 defeat against PSG in the second leg, with an aggregate score of 4-6 in the Champions League quarter-finals.

In the added minutes of the second half, a male Barcelona fan sat sobbing in the stands, continuously wiping tears. The surrounding fans looked at him with sympathetic eyes, then glanced down at the pitch, some sighing heavily. They seemed unable to believe their team’s elimination, despite playing at home and leading by two goals over the two legs.

Ronald Araujo’s red card (left) completely changed the course of the match as Barcelona lost to PSG 1-4 in the second leg, with an aggregate score of 4-6, in the Champions League quarter-finals at the Olympic Lluis Companys Stadium in Barcelona, Spain.

On the pitch, Xavi Hernandez’s troops at times led with an aggregate score of 4-2, but the turning point came in the 29th minute when 22-year-old forward Bradley Barcola broke through the edge of the penalty area, facing the goalkeeper. Araujo was then the last defender of Barca to chase after him, forcing him to fall. The referee deemed the contact to be outside the penalty area, awarding PSG a free kick, but also issuing a direct red card to the Uruguayan defender.

Araujo’s push showed no signs of him attempting to play the ball legally, so the referee could have both given a red card and awarded a penalty kick if the foul occurred inside the penalty area. The 25-year-old defender reacted, but VAR did not intervene, meaning Barcelona had to play with one less player for the remaining 60-plus minutes in order to protect their two-goal lead.

However, they collapsed.

A stunning long-range shot by Vitinha leveled the score 4-4 for PSG.

Barcola was brought to PSG from Lyon last summer for a transfer fee of $48 million and he started in the attacking line alongside Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, instead of more expensive newcomers like Goncalo Ramos or Randal Kolo Muani. It was Barcola who delivered a cross from the left side to the far post, setting up Dembele for PSG’s opening goal in the second leg.

Barcelona crumbled within just seven minutes into the second half, conceding two more goals. In the 54th minute, midfielder Vitinha received the ball about 20 meters out on the right side, then he unleashed a low shot into the far corner to equalize for PSG in the quarter-finals. Clearly, they were not willing to stop there. Five minutes later, defender Joao Cancelo committed an unnecessary foul on Dembele inside the penalty area, giving PSG a penalty kick opportunity, and Mbappe didn’t miss the chance to slot the ball into the top left corner, increasing the aggregate score to 5-4 in favor of the away team.

The PSG players celebrated Mbappe’s decisive goal.

“The away team secured their victory in the 88th minute when defender Jules Kounde fouled Mbappe inside the penalty area, and PSG’s captain didn’t miss the chance, slotting the ball into the near corner with his left foot to seal the score. This marked Mbappe’s 14th goal in just 12 away matches in the Champions League knockout stage, second only to Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 23 goals in 39 matches.

PSG had previously defeated Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of the round of 16 in 2017, only to suffer a 1-6 defeat in the second leg at Barcelona, resulting in an aggregate score of 5-6 and their elimination. This time, the French representatives successfully overturned the tie, even making the famously cold president Nasser Al Khelaifi smile in the stands after the final whistle. A commonality in these two encounters, seven years apart, is that both times, coach Luis Enrique emerged victorious, with Barcelona in 2017 and PSG in 2024.

Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs was heavily criticized by the Barcelona coaching staff throughout the match. In the 56th minute, he decided to give Xavi a red card for his reaction. In total, the referee handed out nine yellow cards and two direct red cards in this intense battle.

This marks PSG’s third appearance in the Champions League semi-finals, following their campaigns in 1995 and 2020, where they will face Dortmund. The first leg will take place on April 30th or May 1st at Signal Iduna Park, with the second leg scheduled a week later at Parc des Princes.”