Paris Saint-Germain survived a second half onslaught to beat Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate and reach the Champions League semi-finals despite a 3-2 defeat on Tuesday.
The French champions were cruising towards the last four when full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes struck in the first 27 minutes to add to their 3-1 first leg lead.
Youri Tielemans pulled a goal back for the English side before half-time and two goals in two minutes from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa transformed the tie early in the second period.
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PSG were thankful to goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for keeping Unai Emery’s men at bay and preventing another famous collapse in the Champions League knockout stages.
Villa boss Emery was in charge of PSG when Luis Enrique’s Barcelona overturned a 4-0 first leg deficit with a dramatic 6-1 win in 2017.
Luis Enrique again emerged victorious over his compatriot but was the one this time given a scare of blowing a seemingly unassailable lead.
Villa had not experienced a European night like this since 1983 and there was an embarrassing moment for the hosts before a ball was kicked as the Europa League anthem was played instead of the famous pre-match hymn of the Champions League.
Desire Doue’s stunning strike to begin PSG’s fightback from 1-0 down in last week’s first leg was not enough for him to retain his place in the side.
But Luis Enrique’s decision to start Bradley Barcola was justified when he sprinted down the left and Emiliano Martinez spilled his cross into the path of Hakimi, who fired home the opener on 11 minutes.
Another blistering break from the visitors cut Villa open as Ousmane Dembele squared for left-back Mendes to stroke in his fourth Champions League goal of the season and second of the tie.
Villa, though, was undeterred. It pressed opportunistically and unreservedly. It flowed forward as a robust midfield unit. It squandered chances, then finally took one in the 34th minute. Youri Tielemans scored, pumped his fists, then raced back to the center circle for more.
Ten minutes into the second half, John McGinn got a second. Two minutes after that, Marcus Rashford bamboozled PSG, and Ezri Konsa scored a third. Villa Park erupted. Belief gushed from the souls of 40,000 fans, into the Villa players, and all across England’s second city.
For five, 10, 15, 20 minutes, Villa rode that wave of passion.
Tielemans nearly scored a third in five minutes.
Marco Asensio, the Spanish attacker on loan from PSG to Villa, waltzed in 1-v-1 with PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, but Donnarumma made perhaps the best of his five saves.
Two minutes later, Konsa flung himself at a teasing Rashford cross, and whiffed on a free header. But it seemed, surely, that a Villa equalizer was coming.
But PSG recovered. It survived the onslaught. It survived a clean Ian Maatsen volley in the third minute of stoppage time, thanks to defender William Pacho, who blocked the goal-bound effort a few yards clear of the goal line.
And so, at the end of a frantic, gripping Champions League night, PSG and Barca stood tall, and confident, in the semis.
PSG will face the winner of the Real Madrid vs Arsenal tie, while Barcelona will take on the victor of Inter Milan vs Bayern Munich.
