Barcelona 1-4 PSG (agg. 4-6): Kylian Mbappe’s late double completes stunning comeback to book Champions League semi-final for French giants as Ronald Araujo’s red sparks Catalan collapse

Barcelona saw red three times and Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain knocked the Spanish giants out of the Champions League.

Barcelona had to play with ten men for an hour after defender Ronald Araujo was sent off in the first half. And Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs also showed red cards to Xavi and his goalkeeping coach José Ramon De la Fuente as the French team won 4-1 on the night and 6-4 on aggregate.

Araujo left the field indicating that his team had been robbed. And it was with the same complaint that Xavi was expelled from his technical area.

The big calls went against them and PSG took advantage with Ousmane Dembélé superb against his former club and Mbappé deadly when needed.

Barcelona made it 1-0 in the 12th minute thanks to a goal scored by Raphinha but made by Lamine Yamal.

The French star kept his cool from the penalty spot to put his side ahead 5-4 on aggregate.

Mbappe scored his second goal in stoppage time to propel PSG into the semi-finals

Raphinha gave the Spanish giants two leads in total with the first goal of the evening.

Araujo played him a long crossfield pass and for the first time in the match the teenager took on Nuno Mendes. The PSG left-back had no chance as Yamal dropped a shoulder and accelerated past him to the byline from where he pulled back for Raphinha to slot past Gianluigi Donnarumma at the near post.

It was a perfect start for Barcelona, ​​but the complexion of the game changed dramatically on the half-hour mark when Araujo was judged to have brought down Bradley Barcola just before he burst into the box.

Kovacs sent him off and it was a win-win for PSG as Xavi immediately replaced Yamal so he could bring on Iñigo Martinez.

Five minutes before the break, PSG were tied that evening. Barcola crosses from the left. He got past Kylian Mbappe but Ousmane Dembele arrived on the right to smash it into the roof of the net.

The former Leeds winger converted Lamine Yamal’s cross to put Barcelona 4-2 ahead on aggregate.

But Ronald Araujo’s red card midway through the first half shook up the second leg.

Former Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele leveled the score for PSG that evening with a firm strike.

It was now 4-3 and Dembélé almost equalized on aggregate but volleyed just wide on half-time. The more hostile the home crowd was towards the former Barcelona striker, the more ready he seemed for the match.

PSG equalized on aggregate in the 54th minute when Vitinha’s shot went through a crowd of players at the edge of the area and past Ter Stegen. The next decision against Barcelona prompted Xavi to hit a fence and he received a red card.

It meant he was not in his technical area to see Mbappe make it 4-5 on aggregate from the penalty spot after Joao Cancelo brought down Dembele. De la Fuente was next to be sent off before PSG’s first leg villain Gianluigi Donnarumma became PSG’s hero in Lewandowski’s second save.

This opportunity seemed to be the catalyst that allowed Barcelona to regain their confidence. The home fans were chanting: “yes, we can”, just as they had in 2017 when they won 6-1 to qualify, and despite Donnarumma making a big save he still seemed a liability on the centers.

Vitinha scored a sensational long-range strike to put PSG level on aggregate at 4-4

Moments later, Xavi was sent off by the referee for reacting furiously in the technical area.

A group of Barcelona fans accidentally threw bottles at their own team’s bus before kick-off.

PSG were close but panicked and a loss of possession gave Lewandowski another chance to equalize, but Marquinhos slipped in and sent the ball for a corner. Raphinha almost scored straight from that corner, but Donnarumma knocked it down for another corner and when that was cleared, PSG broke to put the tie beyond doubt.

Ter Stegen saved brilliantly twice, but when the ball came back to Mbappe, he scored his second goal of the evening and delivered the final fatal blow to Barcelona’s Champions League aspirations. For PSG, the dream of a first European Cup survives in a semi-final against Borussia Dortmund.