Borussia Dortmund defeats Paris St. Germain in the first leg of the CL semi-final: BVB with luck and a filling jug

Update
A stroke of genius and a bit of luck
BVB defeats Paris in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final

May 1, 2024, 10:56 p.m

Borussia Dortmund is well on its way to reaching the Champions League final for the third time in the club’s history. In the semi-final first leg, it takes a bit of aluminum luck against Paris Saint-Germain – and a cracker from Niclas Füllkrug.

With the black and yellow magic of a really big football holiday, Borussia Dortmund has come very close to the dream of Wembley. The extremely strong BVB defeated Paris St. Germain 1-0 (1-0) in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League and gives Germany hope for a repeat of the “German final” against Bayern Munich in the London Stadium Cathedral after eleven years. The second leg on Tuesday (9 p.m./Prime Video and in the live ticker at ntv.de) In the Parc des Princes in Paris, however, there still promises to be a hot dance on the royal dance floor.

“It was a united team performance. Of course we needed a lot of luck twice. But it was a very grown-up, very mature game from us,” said Mats Hummels at DAZN.

Niclas Füllkrug shook the huge south stand with a cracking low shot. The national player’s goal in the 36th minute gave BVB the chance to reach the sixth European Cup final in the club’s history in an exhilarating atmosphere – on June 1st, possibly against FC Bayern, who had drawn 2-2 against Real Madrid on Tuesday. However, two PSG hits on the post were a clear warning.

With their victory, Dortmund also secured qualification for the fundamentally reformed Champions League next season. Fifth place in the Bundesliga will definitely be enough for this.

Several Dortmund players pounce on Kylian Mbappé

Many thousands of Black and Yellows had used Labor Day in the sunshine and heat to get in the mood for the biggest BVB game since the 2013 Champions League final. The PSG fans also staged a spectacle with fireworks and flares on their march from the Westfalenstadion subway stop to the away block.

The air was shimmering and thick, something Hans-Joachim Watzke noticed well before kick-off. “I said that we should enjoy the game,” he said on DAZN, but he immediately qualified: “It doesn’t really work. You can just feel the tension.” The club boss identified Paris as the favorite, “but so was Real Madrid in 2013.” Until BVB swept it out of the stadium 4-1.

Dortmund were wide awake in front of 81,365 spectators, very close to their opponents and trying to attack. Defensively, the order was particularly good thanks to the return of Marcel Sabitzer, who was recently ill – the Austrian also had the first big chance of the game after a quick switch on the very active right side (14th). Several Dortmund players always pounced on the Parisian super striker Kylian Mbappé immediately after receiving the ball, the 25-year-old did not get into potentially dangerous spaces for a long time – and Karim Adeyemi cleared the ball at full sprint (32nd).

BVB takes off while Paris falters

PSG concentrated on the usually very confident Mats Hummels in the run-up, while right-back Julian Ryerson was regularly allowed to drive the ball forward unchallenged. When BVB pressed, the French champions produced some astonishing ricochets, but Dortmund didn’t make enough of their ball wins in the penalty area.

The lead ultimately came from a long pass from Nico Schlotterbeck. Füllkrug started, took the ball with him and finished hard – unstoppable for goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The stadium was boiling. PSG coach Luis Enrique also had to replace former Bayern player Lucas Hernández shortly afterwards due to an injury (42′). Sabitzer could have even made it 2-0 60 seconds later with a volley: BVB took off, Paris reeled.

However, the French came back with a bang. Mbappé offset Sabitzer and shot it to the left inside post – seconds later, after a shot by former Dortmund player Achraf Hakimi, the ball ticked back into the field from the left inside post. PSG tightened the net, combined, and found previously missing depth. But the game went back and forth: Füllkrug had the 2-0 on his feet (60′) and his head (66′). BVB remained greedy and tough until the end – and lucky: Vitinha shot just past the left post (82′).