‘Nobody expected this’: Borussia Dortmund stuns PSG to reach Champions League final
By Ben Church, CNN
(CNN) — Borussia Dortmund continued its “incredible” run in this season’s Champions League, reaching the final after stunning Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the semifinal second leg on Tuesday.
The German side took a 1-0 advantage from the first leg into the match at the Parc des Princes and somewhat rode its luck in an exhilarating encounter in the French capital.
Despite PSG dominating for large periods of the match, it was Dortmund’s Mats Hummels who scored the only goal of the game, the defender’s second-half header sending the small pocket of visiting fans into a frenzy in the 50th minute.
The host threw everything it had at the Germans, but the game ended 1-0, meaning Dortmund went through to the final in London after winning 2-0 on aggregate.
It will now play either Real Madrid or domestic rival Bayern Munich in the final at Wembley Stadium on June 1, the culmination of a journey that few could have predicted.
“The belief in the final was already there early on,” Dortmund manager Edin Terzić said, adding that he spoke to the team about the possibility before its round-of-16 tie against PSV Eindhoven.
“The faces looked a bit baffled when I said that the route to London is short. It will still take a little while before it sinks in for us, but the joy is already extremely great. We’ve grown with every match.
“We wanted to be the team that people don’t necessarily have on their radar. The route has been incredible. We knew that games like today are frequently opened up or decided by set-pieces. Mats [Hummels] took it outstandingly well.”
Dortmund’s run in the Champions League is at odds with its domestic form. The club sits fifth in the Bundesliga table after struggling with consistency.
In Europe, though, Die Schwarzgelben have found a way to win matches and the semifinal second leg was the perfect demonstration of just that.
PSG hit the woodwork four times in the second leg – six times over the entire semifinal – and lacked a clinical edge when in front of goal.
Starman Kylian Mbappé, playing in his last Champions League match for the club, was kept quiet for much of the night, with a lot of PSG’s attacking threat coming through Ousmane Dembélé and Achraf Hakimi on the right wing.
In total, the host had 30 shots against Dortmund, but the German side defended resolutely to maintain its clean sheet over both legs.
“We were not inferior over the two legs, but football rewards those who score, not those who hit the woodwork,” PSG manager Luis Enrique said.
For Dortmund, it is a full-circle moment, given its last Champions League final in 2013 was also held at Wembley Stadium.
On that occasion, Dortmund suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Bayern Munich but will hope to go one better and complete the most unlikely of victories.
For longtime servant of the club Marco Reus, the Champions League final will also be his last opportunity to play for Dortmund.
The 34-year-old announced he would leave the club at the end of the season after 12 years with the team.
He was part of that final in 2013 and said it was “indescribable” to be in that position again.
“How we won the game, no one will ask tomorrow. Shots against the post won’t matter tomorrow. What counts is that Borussia Dortmund is in the final again. Nobody expected this. It’s just incredible,” an emotional Reus said.
Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are currently locked at 2-2 ahead of Wednesday’s second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu in the Spanish capital, with the final at Wembley looming next month.
The-CNN-Wire
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