Borussia Dortmund midfielder Pascal Gross commended his side for their spirited display in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Barcelona.
Dortmund came into the second leg with a four-goal deficit to overturn if they were to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals for the second straight year, and after a series of half chances went begging in the opening minutes, Gross provided the ideal start at Signal Iduna Park.
The midfielder won his side a penalty eight minutes in, and Serhou Guirassy made no mistake from the spot, scoring the first of three goals on the night.
Gross and Felix Nmecha saw a goal disallowed for offside in the first half, and Guirassy again provided the spark early into the second, nodding home from Ramy Bensebaini’s flicked pass.
Bensebaini turned a cross into his own net shortly after to settle Barcelona’s nerves, though Guirassy quickly had them on their toes with another fine finish, capitalising on Ronald Araujo’s defensive error to complete his hat-trick.
It was not enough for the hosts though, as Barcelona held on for a 5-3 aggregate win and reached their first Champions League semi-final since 2018-19.
“We knew we had a tough result from the away game but everything is possible in this stadium,” Gross said.
“We wanted to play better and more courageously and support each other more on the pitch.”
Gross also acknowledged that Dortmund’s performance in the first leg last week let them down.
“We knew we had to be brave and play forward. We did that today and it was a completely different game.
“It’s a shame we didn’t play like that in the first leg as we could have got something out of it.”
He added: “[Bensebaini’s] goal was a little bit unfortunate, and it killed the momentum but we kept going and scored a third one. It was a good performance.”
This was Dortmund’s first win over Barcelona, with the Bundesliga side having failed to win any of their previous six encounters against the Blaugrana in European competition (two draws, four losses).
Gross created six chances in a fine individual performance. The Germany international ended his Champions League campaign having created 26 chances overall, with only Julian Brandt (28 in 2023-24) creating more in a single season in the competition for Dortmund.
Our Champions League journey ends here—but what a battle, what a performance. Heads held high. pic.twitter.com/kc0EFF3pmU
— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) April 15, 2025
When asked about the penalty he won early on, he explained that he just tried to keep himself ahead of Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
“I tried to get in front of [Szczesny]. I know he’s going down and I tried to get my body between the ball and the keeper,” Gross added.
“You never know if you’re offside with them but I wasn’t so it was a penalty.
“It was not enough but today was a good game.”
Guirassy’s hat-trick heroics proved fruitless.
The Guinea international became just the fourth Dortmund player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League, after Robert Lewandowski (April 2013 against Real Madrid), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (March 2017 against Benfica) and Karim Adeyemi (October 2024 against Celtic).
Guirassy’s 13 goals in the Champions League this season is the most ever scored by an African player in a single campaign.
