Unable to find the opening against Dortmund on Tuesday evening in the semi-final of the Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain lost (0-1, 0-2 on aggregate) and was eliminated. BVB will meet the winner of Real Madrid-Bayern Munich in the final.
This was the match where Paris Saint-Germain had to respond. The one where the actors had promised to be at the level, to pack the Parc des Princes to give themselves a chance of reaching the final of the Champions League. But the Parisians, too timid for an hour, were punished by Dortmund and were eliminated in the semi-final after a very disappointing defeat (0-1, 0-2 on aggregate).
Paris had started well, however, with a lot of intensity in the first ten minutes. Gonçalo Ramos, started even though he had not played a minute in the first leg, was found on a cross after just three minutes. But the blow died down too quickly, Dortmund had their first situations thanks to Jadon Sancho and Karim Adeyemi, and the match was balanced.
>>> Relive PSG-Dortmund
We had to wait half an hour for the first shiver to finally run across the German surface. After a series of dribbles from Kylian Mbappé, aligned on the left at kick-off, Ousmane Dembélé found himself in a striking position, but he did not hit the target, from a fairly tight angle. Five minutes later, Mbappé missed the ball in the open area and on the counter, Adeyemi created the biggest chance of the first period, forcing Gianluigi Donnarumma to make a big save.
Enough to calm the ardor of Parisians, who have been close to correctional facilities. If the last opportunity of the first period was for Luis Enrique’s men, on a strike from Fabian Ruiz deflected for a corner by Nico Schlotterbeck, not far from deceiving his own goalkeeper, returning to the locker room at 0-0 already had a taste of small defeat. With the clock ticking down, the pressure has inevitably become greater.
Four posts in the second half
Warren Zaire-Emery could have unlocked all that at the start of the second period, but two meters from the goal, he failed to adjust his shot which hit the post. The sanction fell three minutes later, on a corner conceded by Marquinhos on a bad pass to Donnarumma. Mats Hummels, with a header, got the better of Lucas Beraldo to open the scoring and cool the Parc des Princes.
Paris tried to react, without success. Ramos missed the target twice from close range and Nuno Mendes, above all, found the post with a long shot on the hour mark. As the minutes passed, the Parisians seemed more and more helpless. Dembélé thought he got a penalty, but the referee only awarded a free kick, for a few centimeters, which was then badly hit by Marco Asensio.
Ten minutes from time, PSG picked up the pace again, facing a Dortmund team which was defending with 11 men. Asensio was blocked in the area, Mbappé forced Kobel to make a save from a tight angle, Marquinhos saw his header narrowly missed then Mbappé and Vitinha, each in turn, saw their shot hit the crossbar. In the evening, Paris therefore hit the amounts four times.
In added time, the entire Parc des Princes hoped for a penalty to be entitled to one last hope, but the referee said nothing about the contact between Mbappé and Schlotterbeck. Dortmund held and eliminated PSG, who will not play the second Champions League in its history. One more disillusionment on the European scene. BVB, for their part, will face the winner of Real Madrid-Bayern Munich.
Robin Wattraint Journalist RMC Sport
