Completely exhausted and yet with visible pride, the Borussia Dortmund professionals enjoyed the applause of their fans. The group victory in the Champions League briefly consoled everyone involved about the recent unsatisfactory performances in the Bundesliga.
In the 1-1 (0-0) draw against Paris Saint-Germain, both teams offered the 81,365 spectators in the sold-out Signal Iduna Park a spectacle of opportunities. The draw secured BVB first place in Hammer Group F, meaning Borussia can now hope for an easier round of 16 opponent in the draw on Monday.
“It’s a big compliment that we finished first in the group. It was a wild game today,” said Marco Reus on DAZN. “In the end, I think it was a fair draw. There were a lot of chances on both sides.”
Karim Adeyemi (51st minute) gave the hosts the lead, and Warren Zaire-Emery (56th) equalized for PSG shortly afterwards. As a result, the opponent from the French capital, who was supported by a lot of money from Qatar and was considered a title contender, barely made it into the round of the last 16 teams.
BVB was also consistent against PSG
Unlike in the Bundesliga, BVB recently performed consistently well in the Champions League – and that continued against Paris. Despite the top-class PSG starting eleven, Borussia got into the game well and dominated the game in the early stages. Especially because the hosts pressed the French star ensemble around Kylian Mbappé and thus repeatedly forced them to make mistakes.
In contrast to the disappointing 0-2 in the first leg in Paris, Terzic did not rely on wall tactics this time. In attack, he relied, among other things, on the lightning-quick Adeyemi to pose a threat to PSG on the counterattack. This time Niklas Süle started in central defense instead of Nico Schlotterbeck. And that paid off early.
Because the French got into the game a little better after a while. After almost 20 minutes, superstar Mbappé was free and only had to push it into the empty goal from a tight angle – but the rushing Süle was able to steer the ball out of bounds with a monster slide. “With some reflex I can still get my foot up,” said Süle. “Of course it looks spectacular.”
The national player’s defensive action was met with loud applause. BVB was also lucky with Bradley Barcola’s (20th) shot hitting the post and Randal Kolo Muani’s attempt (24th).
High-speed football and a BVB lead
Suddenly Dortmund’s defense wobbled because there was no pressure on the PSG defense at the front. Dortmund withdrew, which was the only way Paris came in better. Only when Borussia pressed higher again did things go much more their way. Adeyemi (32nd) and Mats Hummels (45th 1) missed the best opportunities.
An extremely entertaining game developed at Signal Iduna Park, which somewhat surprisingly initially lacked goals. If one team retreated more, the other became more dangerous. Accordingly, there was a lot of spectacle, which the spectators applauded loudly at halftime.
It didn’t take long until the audience was rewarded with the first goal. And it happened exactly as the course of the game had suggested – after a successful pressing action. BVB put Paris under pressure deep in their own half and won the ball. Via Ramy Bensebaini and Niclas Füllkrug he found Adeyemi, who shot in from close range.
But the joy didn’t last long because PSG equalized just five minutes later. This time BVB did not defend consistently and that was immediately punished. An unfortunate ball went to Zaïre-Emery, who made it 1-1 with a low shot. PSG remained dangerous afterwards, but the French were unable to score the winning goal.
