Rahul NareshThe second leg of the Borussia Dortmund v Paris Saint-Germain semi-final tie of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League provided us with a thrilling second leg at the Parc des Princes, where the German team managed to add to their single-goal lead and eventually win the tie 2-0 on aggregate.
However, it was anything but straightforward, with the Parisians rattling the woodwork on multiple occasions throughout the contest. In the first half, the best chance fell to Ousmane Dembélé, who slashed an effort from the right side of the goal high and wide. Although the angle was tight, one would’ve expected the former Barcelona attacker to keep his shot on target.
Karim Adeyemi nearly doubled his side’s aggregate lead before the break after finding himself through on goal. The 22-year-old drew an important save from Gianluigi Donnarumma, which kept PSG in the contest.
This match truly sprung into life during the second half when Warren Zaïre-Emery struck the woodwork from extremely close range just a couple of minutes into the action; one would’ve expected the teenager to tuck his chance away. Just a couple of minutes later, PSG conceded a cheap corner from which Mats Hummels put Dortmund ahead on the night via his header.
From this point, it was always going to be an uphill task for Luis Enrique and Co. They continued to push for their first goal of the tie and came close yet again as Nuno Mendes’ left-footed effort from outside the box hit the post in the 61st minute. The hosts would hit the woodwork once more, their star man Kylian Mbappé kissing the crossbar this time.
In the end, the home side were unable to net a goal in the tie and crashed out of the semi-finals in this year’s UEFA Champions League.
A look at the numbers
Regarding the match statistics, it was fairly one-sided, with PSG enjoying 70% of the overall possession, which is expected from a team chasing the game. However, they will be disappointed that they couldn’t find the net despite attempting 30 shots compared to Dortmund’s seven in the second leg.
The German Bundesliga team qualified for the tournament’s final last in the 2012/13 season, where they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich at Wembley. They’ve won Europe’s highest club honour just once, in the 1996/97 campaign.
PSG were last eliminated at this stage of the competition in the 2020/21 season and haven’t won this trophy to date.
