We never gave up: Dembele

Ousmane Dembele said there was never any doubt Paris SaintGermain could overturn a firstleg deficit against Barcelona as the French champions won 41 in Spain on Tuesday to reach the Champions League semifinals Trailing 23 from last weekrsquos clash in Paris Luis Enriquersquos PSG fell further behind in the tie when Raphinha turned in Lamine Yamalrsquos cross in the 12th minuteAraujo redcardedBut a red card for Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo was the turning point with Dembele bringing PSG back into the quarterfinal as he fired home shortly before halftime Vitinha brought the visitors level on aggregate before Kylian Mbappe struck twice converting a penalty and then applying the fatal blow a minute from time to complete a 64 aggregate victoryAlso ReadIPL 2024 Delhi Capitals defeat Gujuart Titans at the MoteraOusmane DembeleldquoEveryone believed we could do it even though we lost 23 in the first leg We didnrsquot throw in the towel We knew we would score goals here The whole team did a great jobrdquo Dembele told Canal Plus ldquoWe have done a lot of work tactically all week and the coachrsquos tactics were perfect We saw in the game even though we lost the first goal we didnrsquot give up We kept believing because we had to win the matchrdquoIt was the first time in club history PSG had won a Champions League tie after losing the first leg at home Their reward will be a meeting with another of Dembelersquos former sides Borussia Dortmund who overcame Atletico Madrid 54 on aggregate after winning 42 at home TuesdaylsquoEveryone was exceptionalrsquoldquoIt was a great effort Everyone was exceptional throughout the whole game I saw that Borussia Dortmund got through and therersquos another club I played forrdquo said Dembele who shrugged off a frosty reception in Barcelona ldquoI had a great evening Being booed by the Barcelona fans is not going to affect me I gave everything I scored and won a penalty so I am pleased with my performancerdquoBarca coach Xavi slams referee over Araujo red cardBarcelona coach Xavi Hernandez claimed the refereersquos decision to send Ronald Araujo off in their Champions League knockout by Paris SaintGermain on Tuesday was ldquounnecessaryrdquo and ended the clubrsquos hopesXavi HernandezAraujo was dismissed in the 29th minute for pulling down Bradley Barcola on the edge of the box with Barcelona leading 10 on the night and 42 on aggregate With Barcelona down to 10 men PSG battled back and triumphed 41 at Montjuic progressing 64 on aggregateldquoItrsquos a shame that the work of a whole season ends here because of a refereeing decision This dismissal red card is unnecessaryrdquo Xavi told Movistar Xavi was sent off for a show of dissent on the sideline as Barcelona lost their heads in the second half and he criticised Romanian referee Istvan KovacsldquoThe referee was very bad I told him he didnrsquot understand the gamerdquo said the coach Araujorsquos red card led Xavi to take off 16yearold winger Lamine Yamal who created Barcelonarsquos opening goal for Raphinha with Inigo Martinez coming on to fill the hole in defence ldquoWersquore angry the red card defines the tierdquo continued XavildquoWe were well organised for me itrsquos too much to give a red card from there itrsquos another tie We had doubts about whether to take off Lamine he was doing wellmdashthat moment completely defined the tierdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever