Borussia Dortmund are through to the Champions League final after Mats Hummels gave his team a 1-0 semi-final second-leg win over Paris Saint-Germain to send Edin Terzić’s men into the continental final on 1 June at Wembley where they will face either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid.
Leading 1-0 from last week’s first leg, Dortmund were unchanged as they stepped out at the Parc des Princes. PSG coach Luis Enrique tweaked, seeking to make better use of Kylian Mbappé by moving him from a central position to his more habitual place on the left, but the France captain once again struggled to make an impact as Julian Ryerson and Jadon Sancho teamed up effectively. And while PSG toiled, Dortmund nearly took advantage before the break. After Hummels had brilliantly denied Mbappé a shooting opportunity, only a fantastic save from Gianluigi Donnarumma deprived Karim Adeyemi of the night’s opening goal after the Germany international’s pace had proved far too much for the PSG backline.
Warren Zaïre-Emery had scored the goal that earned PSG a draw in Dortmund in the final group-stage game and sent his team through to the knockout stages; the highly rated youngster came close to breaking the deadlock just after the break, but his close-range shot left a post quivering with Gregor Kobel struggling to make up ground. Hummels was not so wasteful when he found space at the back post shortly afterwards, heading beyond Donnarumma from inside the six-yard box to double Dortmund’s aggregate lead. PSG responded with Gonçalo Ramos sending a first-time shot over the bar before Nuno Mendes’ long-distance drive rattled a post. PSG pressed in the closing stages, but Kobel turned a low Mbappé shot aside. The PSG superstar was then denied brilliantly by the Dortmund goalkeeper, who turned Mbappé’s close-range shot onto the crossbar when a competition-leading ninth goal beckoned for the France captain. Fortune then favoured BVB as a Vitinha blast rocked the bar – the fourth time in the game PSG had struck the woodwork – to leave Dortmund within a game of being crowned the 2023/24 European champions.
