BERLIN: The storm clouds that had been gathering for weeks over Borussia Dortmund lifted suddenly following their 1-0 Champions League semi-final first-leg win over Paris St Germain on Wednesday, with a spot in next season’s top European club competition in the bag.

Coach Edin Terzic and his team had faced mounting criticism for weeks for their erratic domestic form, but they can now breathe a sigh of relief. They will go into next week’s return leg with a slim advantage but equally importantly having earned Germany a fifth place in the competition for next season.

With three league games left to play, Dortmund are fifth, five behind fourth-placed RB Leipzig and 12 ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt in sixth, ensuring they are the beneficiaries of the additional spot.

Their domestic form this season has not matched their European success and with only one win in their last four Bundesliga matches, they looked set to miss out on next season’s Champions League, especially after last week’s 4-1 demolition by Leipzig.

They sensationally lost last season’s league title on the final matchday.

But roared on by most of the 81,365 fans, including the famed “yellow wall” behind one of the goals, at the Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday, Dortmund were dogged and determined, outmuscling their heavily favoured opponents to gain a narrow advantage before the teams play again in the second leg in Paris next Tuesday.

Niclas Fuellkrug fired in a first-half goal to seal victory as the journeyman striker outshone superstar Kylian Mbappe on the night.

“We covered up a miserable Bundesliga season with a good Champions League campaign,” said Dortmund defender and Wednesday’s man-of-the-match Mats Hummels, looking ahead to the prospect of a Champions League final and a spot in next season’s competition. “We are not shutting our eyes to this Bundesliga season but obviously we now want to go to Wembley.”

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 German defence, especially in the first half with forward Mbappe largely neutralised.

Fuellkrug, playing in his first Champions League season at the age of 31, collected a lofted pass from centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck in the 36th minute and blasted a low shot into the left corner of the net.

PSG hit the post twice in quick succession early in the second-half but could not break through.

Dortmund, who had already lost and drawn against PSG this season in the group stage, can continue to dream of a return to Wembley 11 years after their last Champions League final.

The final in London could be a repeat of the 2013 edition when Dortmund lost to Bayern Munich in an all-German clash. The Bavarians on Tuesday drew 2-2 against Real Madrid in Munich in their first leg.

“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.”

PSG will need to overturn the result if they are going to capture Europe’s biggest prize before Mbappe leaves the club. The French champions are under pressure to finally win to the Champions League to justify more than a decade of huge investment from their Qatari owners.

But despite the setback, PSG will remain confident of overturning the deficit at home next week against a side they thoroughly outclassed at their home venue in September.

“The Parc (PSG’s stadium) and our supporters are giving us hope for the second leg, and we know we can do much better,” PSG captain Marquinhos told Canal+.

Spurred on by a passionate home crowd who booed and whistled every Mbappe touch, Dortmund had the best of the opening stages, Jadon Sancho shining down the right flank.

The opener came thanks to some superb old-school forward play from Fuellkrug.

Centre-back Schlotterbeck had the ball well in his own half and thought about a safe pass back to the ‘keeper but instead punted it forward, with only Fuellkrug aware of the idea.

The Germany forward controlled the ball with a perfect first touch before firing it past PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma with his next.

“It’s not the first time that I’ve tried to stick the ball in at the near post this season. This time it worked out and I’m even happier that it’s in such an important game,” Fuellkrug said.

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.

Four minutes later Fabian Ruiz saw his stooping header sail wide after being left completely unmarked in the box before Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel kept out Ousmane Dembele’s close range effort in the 71st.

Dortmund, winners in 1997, soaked up the pressure as PSG’s Vitinha narrowly missed the target 10 minutes later.

“We tried to keep the ball from them but it’s so difficult because they have a lot of quality,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said. “They are a great team on the ball and off the ball. Today in that environment they were great in both aspects of the game. I think we had maybe a lack of intensity in the first half, but in the second half we created clear, clear chances. But we couldn’t score.”

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2024