The quarter-final stage of the UEFA Champions League 2024/2025 provided fans with incredible emotions, unexpected twists, and a loud farewell to the main favorite of the tournament — Madrid's Real. In the battle for the semi-finals, eight of the strongest teams in Europe faced off, but only four advanced further: Barcelona, PSG, Arsenal, and Inter.
Goodbye, Real: Arsenal makes history
The London Arsenal became the author of the most sensational event of this stage, defeating Real twice. After a crushing 3:0 defeat in the first match at the Emirates, Mikel Arteta's team proved their advantage at Santiago Bernabéu — 2:1. Although Bukayo Saka missed a penalty at the start of the game, he eventually opened the scoring. Vinícius quickly responded, but in added time Martinelli scored the final goal — 5:1 on aggregate.
Oleksandr Zinchenko, although not entering the field, celebrates with the team as they reach the semi-final — only the third in the club’s history. Previous attempts in 2006 and 2009 ended in failure.
PSG: the fight for their first-ever trophy continues
The Parisians are once again close to a historic breakthrough. After a 3:1 home victory over Aston Villa, the return match in Birmingham turned into a real thriller. Despite an early lead for the guests at 2:0 (thanks to Hakimi and Mendes), the hosts equalized — Tillemanns, McGinn, and Consa brought the Villans victory of 3:2. However, the total score of 5:4 in favor of PSG kept the English team out of the competition.
PSG has advanced to the semi-finals only four times in history. The previous final in 2020 ended in a defeat by Bayern. Now, the Parisian grand is facing Arsenal.
Inter maintains advantage over Bayern
The Munich team, as always, had ambitions for the title but had to finish their run at the quarter-final stage. After a minimal 1:2 home defeat, Bayern could not turn the tide at San Siro. Kane put the visitors ahead, but Lautaro Martínez and Pavar’s own goal made the score 2:1 in favor of Inter. D’Ayer’s goal only equalized the score — 2:2, but the situation remained: 4:3 on aggregate — and the Italians advance to the semi-final.
This will be the tenth semi-final in the club’s Champions League history for Inter. The last time the Nerazzurri reached this stage was in the 2022/2023 season when they advanced all the way to the final.
Barcelona withstood pressure in Dortmund
Despite a home victory of 4:0 in the first match, Barcelona almost lost control in Dortmund. Girussi scored a hat-trick, and an own goal by Bensebaini helped the Catalans maintain a comfortable advantage. The match ended with a victory for Dortmund 3:1, but the total score of 5:3 left the Germans out of the competition.
The semi-final will be the 18th in the history of the Catalan club. The last time Barcelona played in the Champions League semi-final was in 2019.
Who faces whom in the semi-finals?
🔸 Arsenal – PSG
🔸 Inter – Barcelona
The matches will take place on April 29 and 30 (first games) and May 6–7 (return matches).
