Champions League: Barca and PSG survive, Real Madrid on Mission Impossible V

Villa and Dortmund fall short in thrilling UCL comebacks; all eyes now on Arsenal vs Real Madrid showdown at the Bernabéu for a semifinal spot.

Carlo Ancelotti must roll back the years and deliver a masterclass to overcome their 3-0 first-leg deficit against Arsenal in their second-leg clash on Wednesday. (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

Tuesday night served us all the juice in the Champions League, with Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund both delivering a near-perfect comeback masterclass, but it was too little too late.

After losing 3-1 in Paris, Aston Villa rose above a 2-goal deficit in the first half to race to a 3-2 lead on the night and was down 5-4 on aggregate with more than twenty minutes of the second leg to play.

Unai Emery's side had chances to level the tie, but Gianluigi Donnarumma said no on the night, clawing back a number of attempts by the hosts and needing his defenders to block some that would have troubled him as Villa bowed out of the tournament.

Borussia Dortmund lost the first leg 4-0 away in Spain but fought back to win 3-1 at the Signal Iduna Park. Barcelona may have confirmed their place in the semifinal, but their performance on Tuesday night must improve to make it to the final.

Barcelona awaits the winner between Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, the advantage currently sits with the team from Italy but with the 2025 final expected to take place at the Allianz Arena in Germany, the Bavarians will do everything they can to make it.

The big one is at the Santiago Bernabeu, where the boys of Mikel Arteta must walk out of the shadows of pain and disappointment over the years to advance to the semifinals, it's the game of their lives.

Real Madrid has employed all the tactics off-field; ex-players and apologists of the 15-time champions have taken to social media to throw their weights behind their favorite club, Arsenal must shut out the noise.

With Edouard Camavinga suspended after his last-gasp red card against the Gunners in the first leg, the conundrum for Carlo Ancelotti is the decision over where Aurelien Tchouameni plays. Will he deploy the Frenchman to the defence or midfield?

Luka Modric was not of so much help in the first leg as Thomas Partey roundly dominated the midfield; how does Ancelotti respond to the conundrum? Has the return to fitness of Dani Ceballos made any difference?

For the Gunners, it's a case of more of the same. Don't sit back early; you can't defend for 90 minutes against a team like Real Madrid. It's the game of their lives; how they approach this will determine the trajectory of the rest of their season.