Fortunately for the Catalans, the emphatic 4-0 victory in the first leg at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys rendered this defeat in Germany a minor setback. Barcelona fans had not witnessed their team lose since December 21, 2024, against Atlético Madrid.

Nearly four months had passed since that home defeat against Diego Simeone’s side—a loss that, according to Hans-Dieter Flick, Barcelona’s German coach, marked a turning point for the team. Since then, Barça had remained unbeaten in 12 La Liga matches, 5 UEFA Champions League games, 5 Copa del Rey fixtures, and 2 Spanish Super Cup matches. Now, Signal Iduna Park can boast of ending Barcelona’s unbeaten streak.

Ronald Araújo after the match said: “We reached the semifinals after a long time. This club deserved this success. We hadn’t made it to this stage in six years, and I’m happy about that. At one point in the game, it seemed like we were losing control, but we managed to hold on and advance to the semifinals. The Champions League is like this; we’ve seen it many times. The knockout stage consists of two legs, and we won on aggregate—that’s the most important thing.”

Interestingly, in Barcelona’s last two matches, opponents have scored own goals. Against Leganés, Jorge Sáenz’s own goal secured three La Liga points for the Catalans, and in the match against Borussia Dortmund, Ramy Bensebaini opened his own net when Barça was at its worst.

Wojciech Szczęsny’s First Defeat

Another streak that ended belonged to Wojciech Szczęsny. The Polish goalkeeper, who became Barcelona’s first-choice keeper in 2025, had not tasted defeat since joining the club. He was even on the verge of making history with Barcelona. However, the loss to Borussia Dortmund halted Szczęsny’s 22-game unbeaten run at Barça. The goalkeeper hopes to make up for this disappointment in the semifinals.