[ad_1]
As the final whistle blew this pulsating, confusing game you can see the Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain players stumbling around in some kind of daze, still trying to process things. I wonder how their combined efforts and mistakes resulted in only one goal. You wonder if – for all the bravado and fragility of the men in yellow – this could really be Borussia Dortmund’s year.
Niclas Füllkrug’s first-half goal eventually settled things, although very little felt decided in the next hour, during which Gregor Kobel’s goal looked like it had been drenched in holy water. Kylian Mbappe had 50 touches, three shots on goal, hit the inside of the post and again came up empty-handed.
But perhaps Dortmund had earned their luck too, after a display of sheer conviction and maturity that has not always been their hallmark. The reformed, reborn Jaden Sancho was the best player on the pitch by distance, slalom and arrangement, roaming down the right and roaming in the centre. On the other flank, Jan Maatsen probably prevailed in a fascinating duel with Achraf Hakimi. It was 1-0 which could have been 4-4 or frankly something in between: the kind of high-stakes, high-stakes game we’ve come to expect from two teams who have no interest in biding their time.
Füllkrug’s goal was coming. It was PSG who got into the game quicker, beginning to dominate possession and flicking through their multiple threats – Hakimi’s runs down the right, Bradley Barcola’s runs down the left, Fabian Ruiz’s late forays through the middle – like a diner perusing a menu. Mbappe, as always, played very much on aura in these early stages, his very presence stretching Dortmund’s defensive line and creating the pockets that Ruiz and Ousmane Dembele like to operate in.
But after about half an hour of sketchy defensive ideas and half-baked attacking ideas, something seemed to click in the home side. After a series of safe passes out wide, Sancho finally took over and beat two men on the edge of the area and cut the ball back for Julian Brandt. Although the shot was deflected, Sancho’s shirt seemed to fill Dortmund with a spirit of enterprise, reminding them of themselves.
A few minutes later, Nico Schlotterback cut the ball over the top for Fühlkrug, who produced two sumptuous touches: one to control with his right foot, one to curl a low shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma with his left. Now the Yellow Wall smelled of blood, heaving and swaying, wanting more. Kobel put Barcola on his back with a daring 180 degree spin. At the other end, only Donnarumma’s outstretched dive stopped Marcel Sabitzer from making it 2-0.
In hindsight, the break seemed to come at an opportune time for PSG, who emerged from the dressing room with a little more control and focus. At the start of the second half, Mbappe capped a scathing counter-attack with his trademark from the corner of the box, hitting the inside of the post. Seconds later, Hakimi took another jab and hit the inside of something else post A few minutes later, Marquinhos delivered a superbly disguised low cross that Ruiz somehow managed to head home. As was the case in both legs of the quarter-finals against Atlético Madrid, Dortmund lived on charm and desire.
The problem for PSG – and really, not a new problem at all for anyone with even the slightest grounding in this club’s heritage – was that between these wild flourishes, Dortmund essentially walked the ball through them at will. This familiar lack of defensive intensity up top invited pressure further back. Just before the hour, Sancho, who had already played all the old hits, took off at warp speed towards the right touchline and cut the ball back for Füllkrug, who missed a much easier chance than the one he had scored.
after the promotion of the newsletter
It was a sweltering day in Dortmund and as PSG began to rise again to build waves of tension, you could see Dortmund’s players trying to catch their breath during breaks in the game. Perhaps there was an argument that Edin Terzic could have turned to the bench sooner, but their forwards had a storming match and was this really the time to bring in a new defender against Mbappe and co?
Marco Reus eventually came on eight minutes from time, by which point the patterns had largely been established. PSG continued to threaten. Dembele missed a great chance from Hakimi’s cross. Ruiz wasted another header. But somehow Dortmund survived, like John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction when they turn to see the wall behind them riddled with bullets. This movie is only half done. But for Dortmund, a return to the sky lights of Wembley has never felt closer.
[ad_2]
