(Football news) In their quarterfinal matches against Spanish opponents, both teams overcame deficits to go to the round of eight; BVB defeated Atletico Madrid, while PSG triumphed over Barcelona.
After defeating Atletico Madrid 5-4 on aggregate in the quarterfinals and winning 4-2 in an exciting second leg at home a few of weeks ago, Borussia Dortmund has advanced to their first Champions League semifinal since making it to the biggest tournament under Jurgen Klopp in 2012–13.
Their plans for their round of sixteen matchup with PSG, however, have not gone as planned. They have lost their last two Bundesliga games, drawing 1-1 with champions Bayer Leverkusen following a goal conceded in the 97th minute, and losing 4-1 at RB Leipzig the previous weekend.
Despite taking an early lead through Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho, who became the highest-scoring Englishman (40 goals) in Bundesliga history, Dortmund were trailing 2-1 at half time before Mohamed Simakan and Christoph Baumgartner sealed a convincing victory for Leipzig in the second half, significantly denting BVB’s hopes of securing a top-four finish.
Edin Terzic’s side sit fifth in the table and five points behind Leipzig in fourth with only three games remaining, although fifth spot could be enough to secure a place in next season’s newly-expanded Champions League as Germany currently boasts the second-best coefficient ranking behind Italy.
Dortmund can automatically qualify for the 2024-25 Champions League if they go all the way in this season’s competition, replicating the heroics of the famous 1996-97 squad, although they arguably enter the last four as underdogs with PSG and either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid standing in their way.
BVB have only won one of their previous six meetings with PSG – a 2-1 first-leg home win in the 2019-20 Champions League round-of-16 – but their home record bodes well ahead of Wednesday’s contest as they have not lost any of their last 10 Champions League matches at Westfalenstadion, winning six of those and scoring 19 goals in the process.
PSG have moved one step closer to winning their first-ever Champions League trophy after beating five-time winners Barcelona 6-4 on aggregate in an action-packed quarter-final tie, advancing to their third semi-final in five seasons.
The French giants lost 3-2 in the first leg on home soil and were then trailing 1-0 in the reverse fixture in Spain, but the dismissal of Barca’s Ronald Araujo turned the tide in PSG’s favour, with Kylian Mbappe (2), Vitinha and Ousmane Dembele – against his former club – all scoring to help Luis Enrique’s men complete the turnaround and seal a 4-1 victory.
Two more 4-1 wins in Ligue 1 over Lyon and Lorient followed for PSG, before they were forced to rescue a 3-3 draw at home against Le Harve last weekend, with Goncalo Ramos netting a dramatic 95th-minute equaliser. Nevertheless, Les Parisiens were crowned champions for a 12th time on Sunday without kicking a ball after second-placed Monaco lost at Lyon.
Enrique’s team is understandably upbeat as they get ready to travel to Germany to play Dortmund on Wednesday. They will be optimistic about winning the first leg of their Champions League match because they have won their last 15 away games across all competitions (W12 D3) since they were defeated 2-1 at AC Milan in the group stage nearly six months ago.
In Group F of the Champions League this season, PSG came in second place behind Dortmund, despite only picking up four points from their two meetings with the Bundesliga team. In their most recent encounter, which took place in December at Westfalenstadion, Les Parisiens were held to a 1-1 draw. In their three prior trips to Germany, they have failed to defeat BVB.
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