Barcelona is on the verge of its 1st Champions League semi-final in six years

FC Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund face each other this Tuesday in the return leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. Hansi Flick's team arrives in Germany with a 4-goal advantage after the thrashing in the first leg in Montjuïc (4-0) and with the confidence that comes from an unbeaten run of 24 matches (20 wins and 4 draws) this 2025. In that sense, Barça already feels like they are in the 'semis', a stage they have not reached for six years.

Between 2020 and 2024, the 'culés' suffered several disappointments and very tough results that called into question their European prestige. After reaching nine semi-finals between 2006 and 2019, in addition to four titles, the team has gone through a complicated period in the last five years. Previously, between 2016 and 2018, there were three consecutive eliminations in the quarter-finals (Atlético, Juventus, Roma), the stage in which Barça fell last season against PSG.

Barça will seek to erase the bad memory of their last Champions League semi-final

That 2019, Barça arrived as favorites to the semi-final against a Liverpool team hit by injuries. The 'culés' came from eliminating Lyon and Manchester United in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, respectively. In the first leg, a goal from Luis Suárez and a double from Leo Messi seemed to seal the tie, but Ernesto Valverde's team, for the second consecutive season, wasted a three-goal advantage in the return leg.

At Anfield, Liverpool won 4-0 to advance to the final at the Metropolitano, where they would end up defeating Tottenham. Origi and Wijnaldum's doubles worked the 'red' miracle and the 'azulgrana' catastrophe. A year earlier, in 2018, Roma had achieved something similar. Afterwards, between 2020 and 2024, Barça fell twice in the quarter-finals, once in the round of 16 and twice in the group stage.

This is how Barça fared in their last five Champions League semi-finals

1. 🔴Liverpool 4-3 FC Barcelona (2018-19). First leg: 3-0 in favor of Barça. Second leg: 4-0 in favor of Liverpool.
2. 🟢FC Barcelona 5-3 Bayern Munich (2014-15). First leg: 3-0 in favor of Barça. Second leg: 3-2 in favor of Bayern.
3. 🔴Bayern Munich 7-0 FC Barcelona (2012-13). First leg: 4-0 in favor of Bayern. Second leg: 0-3 in favor of Bayern.
4. 🔴Chelsea 3-2 FC Barcelona (2011-12). First leg: 1-0 in favor of Chelsea. Second leg: 2-2.
5. 🟢FC Barcelona 3-1 Real Madrid (2010-11). First leg: 0-2 in favor of Barça. Second leg: 1-1.