For BVB, which is weak in the Bundesliga, the Champions League remains an oasis of well-being. Dortmund were also very lucky in the 1-1 (0-0) draw against the star ensemble from Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday evening, but to the astonishment of the experts, they finished top of Group F as winners. After a remarkable exchange of blows between both teams in front of 81,365 spectators in the sold-out Signal Iduna Park, coach Edin Terzic’s team can hope for an easier opponent in the draw for the round of 16 on Monday.
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.
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.
Farewell gift from Emil Forsberg: The Swedish playmaker scored RB Leipzig to victory in the meaningless final group game of the Champions League. Forsberg scored against Young Boys Bern in the 56th minute to make it 2-1 (0-0) and was celebrated by the 43,331 fans in what was probably his last premier class appearance. All that is missing is official confirmation of Forsberg’s move to New York, which should take place this week. Benjamin Sesko (51′) had previously scored for Leipzig and Ebrima Colley (53′) for Bern.
In terms of sport, everything was clear before kick-off. RB Leipzig was already safely in the round of 16 as second in Group G and the Swiss champions are continuing their international season in third place in the Europa League. The draw for the knockout round of the premier class will take place on Monday in Nyon.
Compared to the victory in Dortmund, coach Marco Rose changed his starting eleven to eight positions. The focus was on Peter Gulacsi, who was in goal in a home game for the first time since tearing his cruciate ligament in October 2022. The Hungarian international also led the team onto the field as captain.
The stars and top scorers Loïs Openda and Xavi Simons were given a break and only came in the final quarter of an hour, when Forsberg said goodbye to lots of applause. In the attacking midfield, Liverpool loanee Fabio Carvalho was given a chance, while Christopher Lenz defended at the back left. In attack, the breakers Benjamin Sesko and Yussuf Poulsen were supposed to pose problems for the Bern defense around former Berliner Fabian Lustenberger.
