Dortmund reflect on costly first-leg defeat after falling short against Barcelona
By
SABC Sport
16th April 2025
Borussia Dortmund's players expressed disappointment following their elimination from the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening, acknowledging that their fate had largely been determined by a heavy first-leg defeat to Barcelona.
Despite delivering an improved performance in a spirited 3-1 victory at Signal Iduna Park, the German side were unable to overturn a 4-0 deficit from the first leg, resulting in a 5-3 aggregate loss and an end to their European campaign.
Striker Serhou Guirassy, who scored all three goals for Dortmund on the night, lamented the damage done in the earlier fixture at the Estadi OlÃmpic Lluis Companys.
"They are a great team, and we are also a great team - we showed that today," Guirassy told Amazon Prime Video post-match. "It's just a shame the gap was too wide from the first leg."
Guirassy opened the scoring from the penalty spot early in the match and added a second shortly after the interval. An own goal, however, handed Barcelona the crucial away goal and effectively dashed Dortmund's comeback hopes. Guirassy completed his hat-trick in the 76th minute, becoming the Champions League's leading scorer this season with 13 goals - a new club record for Dortmund in European competition.
"It's a great feeling to be the top scorer in the Champions League, especially given the calibre of players in this tournament," he said. "To be at the top shows I am a good goalscorer, but I could not have done it without the team."
Defender Niklas Sule, who lifted the Champions League trophy with Bayern Munich in 2020, echoed Guirassy's sentiments, admitting that the first leg left them with too much to do.
"We failed to deliver in Barcelona," Sule said bluntly. "The performance simply wasn't good enough."
Dortmund briefly thought they had made it 4-1 on the night through Julian Brandt with just over 10 minutes remaining, a goal that would have made for a thrilling conclusion. However, the strike was ruled out for offside, and Barcelona held firm to secure a place in the semifinals for the first time since 2019.
Midfielder Pascal Gross highlighted the team's determination despite the daunting task, praising both the effort on the pitch and the belief shown by the home crowd.
"I think it would have been a very exciting final ten minutes," Gross said. "But until the last minute, we played like we believed in the possibility - and that belief spread to the stadium."
"We're out because of the bitter result in Barcelona, but tonight showed that we are capable of competing with teams at this level."
