“We are confident that we will qualify for the final”. This confirmation, announced by Kylian Mbappe from the rooftops in the run-up to the second leg against Dortmund, turned into confusion and darkness. In more than 180 minutes, the call to be the best player in the world is dry. Paris Saint-Germain has him too. Luis Enrique’s vast arsenal turned into empty weapons. Y The victory of Hamels, And master the German reliability and consistency-when you stop belittling German teams-to put Dortmund in another Champions League final. Against all odds.
Paris Saint-Germain 0-1 Borussia Dortmund: highlights and goals / Champions League (semi-final, second leg)
It will remain for memory Six shots on goal from Paris Saint-Germain Between the parties (four of them in pars) and 30 shots to Kopel, The Insecurity in Donnarumma And other mistakes are attributed to Luis Enrique, but Dortmund did a lot of things right to be in the grand final. Here are some keys, purely football, to surprise the Champions League.
Mbappe blackout
“Mbappe can only be defended as a team . With his inimitable pace, you can’t defend him alone.”, Hamels pointed out after the first station clash. The German defender had just become Kilian’s main antidote. Dortmund knew that Mbappe could not turn around, should not find spaces for running and reduced his interventions to controls with the goalkeeper behind his back. And when I can turn around, let the spaces be minimal.
If he had been able to score, he would have been eliminated: PSG had as many as four shots on goal!
Sancho, Sabitzer and Ryerson were assembled and the star of pars was stopped. He will get wet balfoura and He said goodbye to the Parque de los Principes as an eternal contender for the European crown. Luis Enrique moved his pieces to find housing for Killian: first on the left side and in the second part as a reference. He scored the goal almost at the end of the match but it was one of his few appearances. I never found my place and that’s why the French disaster began.
The Yellow Wall
The Terzich people knew how to handle all the records. At the beginning of each part they offered an intermediary pressure to stop the expected initial payment from PSG. Then he took a step back. Always well-nested, with a profile of its players for not allowing easy controls to the opponent and with assists a few steps away to minimize defensive efforts. Everything is reduced to a few meters.
They dominated in defense but also threatened with the ball. With Sancho and Ademi to space, With a position game with a big personality when it comes to lowering the impulses to the match. I didn’t allow duels, I didn’t introduce defensive weaknesses and it was like that Impassable from above. The Yellow Wall was more consistent than ever.
Vitinha, Nico, and the destabilizing element
If anyone saved PSG’s face in this semi-final , it was that Fitinha. The Portuguese stands out as one of the best midfielders on the European scene today. He was already the best in the draw against Barra and repeated against Dortmund. The only one who excels with his passes, who looks forward and forgets about horizontal passes. His actions were always intentional. Very often, you are hurt. He even dared from the middle distance and met the crossbar.
While everyone was looking at Mbappe or Dembele, the PSG game and the options to generate something above were running through the shoes of the Faroese midfielder. With Mbappe packing his bags, The axis on which Parisian football should turn to the Portuguese.
Lack of French toe or German resistance? Maybe a bit of both. This is how the victory of the Dortmund team was made, which knew how to suffer but also gave enough advantages to be at Wembley. Everyone lost his last final and this time, as an unexpected guest, he tried to complete the grand surprise of this Champions League.
