Despite losing 3-1 at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday with Serhou Guirassy hitting a hat-trick, the Spanish giants won through 5-3 on aggregate.
Holding a 4-0 lead after a dominant performance in Catalonia, the visitors were made to sweat as Dortmund and Guirassy nearly pulled off a stunning turnaround.
Guirassy put Dortmund in front with a Panenka from the spot with 11 minutes gone and headed them two goals clear early in the second half.
Dortmund sensed a sensation but Barcelona hit back, Fermin Lopez forcing Ramy Bensebaini into an own goal with just over half an hour remaining.
Guirassy re-ignited Dortmund’s belief with a third on the 76th-minute mark and the final stages may have been different had Julian Brandt not been offside before scoring with 11 minutes remaining.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick praised Dortmund’s performance and said his side “need to focus on the positive, not the negatives”.
“What the team has shown in the past few weeks is incredible. We’ve got a lot ahead of us this season. We’re a step further but we’re not even close to the end,” added the German.
Barcelona, considered title favourites, will face either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich in the final four.
In Birmingham, PSG 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.
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.
“At the end, we got them suffering like we did,” said Emery.
“To get this level is the next step forward that I want to try to build with Aston Villa.”
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 this time was the one who watched his team almost blow a seemingly unassailable lead.
“I have to say that match for us is something that allows us to grow up and try to compete even better,” said the PSG coach.
“On the whole two matches we deserved to win and we are very happy because it’s the second year in a row in the semi-finals.”
Through to their second consecutive semi-final in the competition, PSG will face the winner of the last-eight tie between Arsenal and Real Madrid. (AFP)
