Drama in Dortmund: BVB on course for the final thanks to Füllkrug

For Borussia Dortmund, the dream of a return to Wembley lives on. The Germans won at home against reigning French champions Paris Saint-Germain and are now dreaming of the final.

01 Maj 2024

From: dpa

With the 1-0 (1-0) in the semi-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain, coach Edin Terzic's team ensured an acclaimed continuation of the football fairytale in the Champions League and came one step closer to the final in London. As so often this season, the disappointing fifth-place team in the Bundesliga grew beyond themselves on the international stage and even brought the favored star ensemble from France around Kylian Mbappé to their knees.

Thanks to Niclas Füllkrug's goal (36th minute) in front of 81.365 spectators in the sold-out Signal Iduna Park, Borussia goes into the second leg next Tuesday with good chances. 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.

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.

Kylian Mbappe narrowly failed to equalize several times. © APA/afp / FRANCK FIFE

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.

Dortmund almost made it 2-0

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.

Mats Hummels (right) skillfully threw himself into every duel. © ANSA / FRIEDEMANN VOGEL

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').