Sport Champions League, semi-finals
The dream of Wembley is alive – “adult” Dortmunders are taking down PSG
As of: 11:15 p.m. | Reading time: 4 minutes
Celebrations after the deserved lead: Dortmund’s Niclas Füllkrug (right) celebrates his goal to make it 1-0
Source: dpa/Bernd Thissen
Thanks to a brilliant performance, Borussia Dortmund goes into the second leg of the Champions League semi-final with a lead. BVB deservedly won their home game against Paris Saint-Germain. The French only hit the post twice.
Borussia Dortmund has put itself in a good position to reach the final of the Champions League. BVB defeated French champions Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 (1-0) in the first leg of the semi-final. Niclas Füllkrug (36th) scored the goal of the evening in front of 81,365 spectators.
For the fifth-placed team in the Bundesliga, the dream of a return to Wembley lives on. As so often this season, the team, which was often disappointing on the national stage, outgrew itself on the international stage and even brought the favored star ensemble from France around Kylian Mbappé to its knees. The Dortmund team ran a total of ten kilometers more than their individually better opponents.
“It’s a house number. But you have to run it if you want to beat a team like that,” said BVB defender Mats Hummels, who was voted Man of the Match: “We put in a top performance. A classic team performance. That was very mature, very adult, of us.”
Sidelined: PSG superstar Kylian Mbappé (right) was in the best hands with Mats Hummels
Source: AFP/ODD ANDERSEN
Eleven years after the final defeat (1:2) against FC Bayern, who are also still in the race after the 2:2 against Real Madrid in the second semi-final, there could be a new edition of the German showdown in the English capital.
Füllkrug hits ice cold
Long before kick-off, the BVB fans in the stadium and also in the city of Dortmund had created a special atmosphere that was more than worthy of a Champions League semi-final. “I said to myself this morning, you just have to enjoy it now,” said managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke before the game on DAZN: “But to be honest, that doesn’t really work. You just feel this tension. It’s a special game.”
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Hummels also commented on the mood beforehand and the impact on the team. “We see it, we all noticed it. We recognize that,” he said.
BVB coach Terzic was able to field the same starting eleven as in the triumphant quarter-final second leg against Atlético Madrid. The long-term injured Donyell Malen and Sébastien Haller were at least back on the bench. It was important that Marcel Sabitzer, who had previously been in good form, reported fit in good time after an illness. The Austrian had the first good chance for Dortmund after a quarter of an hour, but was denied by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The Parisian star ensemble then took control of the game. But Dortmund defended cleverly and collectively, even left winger Karim Adeyemi often worked against Achraf Hakimi back to his own baseline. Dortmund also relied on the counterattack – and struck ice cold.
When the opponent had moved up, Nico Schlotterbeck hit a long pass into Füllkrug’s path, who placed the ball in front of himself with his right foot and shot it flat into the goal with his left from about 15 meters. Just eight minutes later, Sabitzer had the chance to make it 2-0, but the midfielder found his match again in Donnarumma.
And PSG? The newly crowned French champions allowed the ball to flow in their own ranks without really being forced. Mbappé, who had addressed the group of players immediately before kick-off, also did not get into the dangerous areas for a long time. Lucas Hernandez had to leave the field injured before half-time, and Lucas Beraldo came on to replace the former Munich player.
Finale in Wembley
After the break, the guests from France unsurprisingly increased the pressure. Dortmund were lucky not to concede the equalizer in the 52nd minute when Mbappé and Hakimi hit the post twice within a few seconds. But Dortmund also provided occasional relief attacks, and Füllkrug should have scored his second goal after strong preparatory work from Jadon Sancho (60th). In the final minutes, Dortmund concentrated almost exclusively on defending, but Julian Brandt still had a great chance to make it 2-0 (83′).
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On the other side, it was Füllkrug again who wasted the best opportunities to make it 2-0. So it remains exciting for the second leg in Paris in six days.
On Tuesday, FC Bayern played 2-2 against Real Madrid in the first semi-final. The Munich team will also play away in the second duel. The second leg will take place in the Spanish capital on May 8th. The final will take place on June 1st at Wembley Stadium in London. Eleven years ago the two Bundesliga clubs faced each other there in a direct duel.
