From chaos in Catalonia to delight in Dortmund, it was compelling fare every step of the way as eight became four in the Champions League.
After successive nights of drama, there was not an obvious place to start but the Nou Camp – and a meeting between Barcelona present and past – seemed as good as any.
When Luis Enrique – Barca boss the last time they won the competition in 2015 – and Paris St Germain were defeated 3-2 at home in the first leg, all the momentum seemed to be with the current Barcelona, managed by Enrique’s former club captain, Xavi Hernandez.
That sense increased when Raphinha netted from close range to extend their advantage.
Yet, shortly afterwards, things began to unravel when Barca defender Ronald Araujo received a straight red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Araujo appeared to argue that his centre-back partner Pau Cubarsi was covering, meaning he was not the last man, but the video assistant referee stuck with the referee’s on-field decision, leaving Barcelona to play 60 minutes with 10 men.
From that moment on, it was a night for Xavi to forget.
In fact, so outraged was the man who will depart the club this summer, that he berated the referee post-match.
‘Since I am here, all of them were against us. All of them. I mean, all of them,’ Xavi said.
What followed Araujo’s dismissal was a turning of the tide as Ousmane Dembele capitalised on the advantage against his former side shortly before half-time.
Vitinha was given acres of space nine minutes after the break to make it 4-4 on aggregate and PSG’s recovery continued when Dembele was brought down in the box and Real Madrid-bound Kylian Mbappe converted the spot-kick to fire his side into the lead.
With the home side chasing the game, Mbappe then added another with a minute remaining to cap off a miserable night for the hosts, which also saw Xavi sent off in the aftermath of Vitinha’s goal as referee Istvan Kovacs dished out cards at will, while another member of Barca’s backroom staff also saw red.
If that result surprised me (the numerical advantage was obviously a major factor), my prediction of Atletico progress against Borussia Dortmund was horribly awry.
In the build-up to the second leg at the Westfalenstadion, I suggested Atletico would frustrate Dortmund at all costs and set up a potentially all-Spanish semi-final.
How wrong I was!
Dortmund deserve all the plaudits on the night for scoring twice in five first half minutes to put themselves in charge of the tie, and then responding again with two in three after it seemed Atletico had wrestled back control.
Marcel Sabitzer, two assists and the winning goal on the night, was a quietly effective performer while on loan at Manchester United in the second half of last season but was deemed surplus to requirements at Bayern Munich before he moved to Dortmund.
He, Julian Brandt and Niclas Fullkrug were among the stars on an incredible evening that will go down in Dortmund history – the best fillip they have had since the last day devastation they experienced last term.
What though will the Spaniards, defeated finalists in 2014 and 2016, make of it.
They were 2-0 up in the first keg, in control of the narrative and, again, fought back on Tuesday night but, as Jonathan Liew of the Guardian noted: ‘In hindsight it felt like the last stand of a stumbling and broken team, a fibreglass facsimile of the battleships Diego Simeone used to produce’.
The only small crumb of comfort for Atletico is that they will be participating at the 2025 Club World Cup – the first edition of the newly rebranded format of the tournament, which will take place in the United States – due to Barcelona’s failure to reach the semi-finals.
The Champions League highlights continued into Wednesday but one thing doesn’t change and that is you dismiss Bayern Munich at your peril.
Before their first leg draw at Arsenal, outgoing manager Thomas Tuchel knew it was last chance salon for the Bavarians – losing their Bundesliga crown by some distance to Bayer Leverkusen, coupled with their shock exit in the German Cup at the hands of third-division Saarbruecken in November, meant this was all they had left to play for.
No problem.
Despite being without key personnel in the shape of the suspended Alphonso Davies and injured duo Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman – the matchwinner when Bayern were last kings of Europe – they still had too much for the Gunners.
After an even first half, Joshua Kimmich headed the winner and Bayern were deservedly through to the last four where they will meet Real Madrid.
Holders Manchester City and competition kings Real were never going to be able to reproduce their epic from the Bernabeu just over a week ago but it was no less compelling.
Arguably the two favourites for the tournament, neither would have wanted to lock horns at this stage and it went the distance with Rodrygo’s early opener cancelled out by Kevin de Bruyne in what was, at times, a masterclass in defence versus a masterclass in attack.
Antonio Rudiger held his nerve to score the decisive spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out and, as Madrid players celebrated wildly in front of the travelling fans, Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti shared a warm embrace.
And then there were four. Don’t forget to study the SBOTOP Champions League betting odds ahead of the semi-finals because, if the last two nights have taught us anything, it’s that anything is possible.
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