Champions League: Dortmund defeats PSG and forces the French champion to make a new comeback

Paris Saint-Germain and Kylian Mbappé are once again on the ropes: the new French champion was defeated 1-0 on their visit to Borussia Dortmund this Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals.

Niclas Füllkrug's goal in the 36th minute helped the yellow team win this first round at the Westfalenstadion and travel to Paris with a lead as short as it is hopeful for the second leg, which will be played next Tuesday.

"We are going to go look for the final, we no longer have anything to lose," assured the PSG coach, Spanaird Luis Enrique, already thinking about the final duel.

Adding to the adverse result was another concern for PSG: their defender Lucas Hernández's injury. He hurt himself while trying to avoid Füllkrug's shot at the goal and had to be replaced shortly before half-time.

The example of Barcelona

This result changes the planned script in a tie in which PSG arrived as the clear favorite, just after mathematically becoming champion of the French Ligue 1 for the twelfth time in history. At the same time, Dortmund barely holds fifth place in the Bundesliga.

The French team already had to return from its quarter-final tie, in which it first lost 3-2 at home against Barcelona, before winning 4-1 as a visitor with a double from Mbappé at the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic.

The French star could not lead his team this time and sees his dream of lifting the 'Orejona' become complicated in his farewell to PSG, which was acquired in 2011 by its current Qatari owners and since then has had the Champions League as a great obsession.

Füllkrug, the great hero

The favorite label was soon forgotten, and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma narrowly avoided a goal-mouth shot by Austrian Marcel Sabitzer in the thirteenth minute.

It was a warning that materialized at 36' when Nico Schlotterbeck sent a long ball that left Füllkrug alone in the race toward the visiting goal. Lucas Hernández damaged his left knee in his desperate chase to avoid the German attacker's shot.

The PSG defender tried to continue but gave up his place on the field to another Lucas, his Brazilian teammate Beraldo. Amid the confusion, Sabitzer (43') tested Donnarumma's reflexes again.

Although Füllkrug was crowned the great hero of the match for his score, his teammates Hummels, Brandt, and Sancho played a leading role in Dortmund's victory, putting in great individual performances.

Mbappé and Hakimi, on the stick

The tone of the commitment seemed to change upon returning from the locker room.

In the 50th minute, PSG even hit the post twice in the same play: first Mbappé, who hit the ball against the post in a cross-shot whose rebound made the play continue before Achraf Hakimi finished off the crossbar again.

The Swiss goalkeeper of the locals, Gregor Kobel, stopped a new shot by Mbappé (54') shortly after the Spaniard Fabián Ruiz (56') misdirected a header in the goal's mouth, with everything in his favor.

Once again, Kobel, a savior, used his providential hand to deflect a shot from Ousmane Dembelé (72'), who then shot into the clouds with everything in his favor.

It was not PSG's night, which at least avoided significant problems thanks to Füllkrug failing to aim on two clear occasions in the second half, sending high in a pass of death in the 60th minute and in a header in the 65. Marquinhos even saved the French by blocking Julian Brandt's shot from goal in the 84th minute.

“It was a deserved victory, a good performance by the team. We could have scored more goals, but they could have scored too. That's why I think the result is good," said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic.

The Parc des Princes was the stadium in which both PSG and Borussia Dortmund, who met in their first-phase group, started their careers this season, with a French victory then by 2-0.

One of the two will bid farewell to the competition on Tuesday, and for the moment, PSG is teetering on the wire. The winner of the match will be seen on June 1 at Wembley against Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, who tied 2-2 on Tuesday in their first round.