Borussia Dortmund’s Niclas Füllkrug fired in a first-half goal to seal a 1-0 victory over visitors Paris Saint-Germain in a compelling Champions League semifinal first leg on Wednesday.
Dortmund take a lead to Paris! ⚫🟡#UCL pic.twitter.com/3pooJb9nrz
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Nico Schlotterbeck floated a pass into Fullkrug’s path and the Germany forward controlled the ball with a perfect first touch before drilling a low shot past keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 36th minute.
PSG, fresh from being crowned Ligue 1 champions and desperate to win their first ever Champions League trophy, found it hard going against a disciplined Germán defence, especially in the first half with forward Kylian Mbappé largely neutralised.
With the return leg in Paris next Tuesday, the winners of the tie will face either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, who drew 2-2 in their first leg in Germany, in the final at Wembley Stadium in London on June 1.
“It was a well-deserved win, a good team performance,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic. “We could have scored more goals, but so could they.
“That’s why the result is OK from my point of view. We ran a lot, but that’s necessary in a game like this.
“You have to earn your way to Wembley. All we need now is a draw in the second leg, but we also want to win next week.”
The win also confirmed Germany will get a fifth qualifying spot for next season’s Champions League, with Dortmund being the main beneficiaries at the moment, sitting in fifth place in the Bundesliga with three games left to play.
Dortmund went close just before half-time with Marcel Sabitzer, but his shot was blocked by Donnaruma. The French side improved after the break and went agonisingly close to an equaliser in the 52nd minute with Mbappe curling a shot onto the far post and then Achraf Hakimi also hitting the woodwork on the rebound.
“We saw an even match with two teams that play good football when they have the ball,” Luis Enrique told a press conference on Wednesday.
“We both created many scoring chances. This time our opponents scored and we didn’t. The result reflects how close the game was.”
Four minutes later Fabián Ruiz saw his stooping header sail wide after being left completely unmarked in the box before Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel kept out Ousmane Dembélé’s close range effort in the 71st.
Dortmund, winners in 1997 and looking to reach their first final since 2013, soaked up the pressure as PSG’s Vitinha narrowly missed the target 10 minutes later.
“In the last two rounds, they had the home game as their second game, whereas it was the other way round for us,” Luis Enrique added. “Now it’s a different and new scenario, we’ll have the crowd on our side in the second leg.
“I would have liked to create the chances we have created, but you have to be effective to score. We’ll see what version we show in Paris.”
By Agencies.