Dortmund qualified for the third Champions League final in its history by eliminating PSG on Tuesday at the Parc des Princes. An unexpected performance for the Borussia players, who did not necessarily imagine themselves capable of reaching such a level this season.
They knew how to keep their cool in the heat of the Parc des Princes. Like their victory in the first leg at Signal Iduna Park (1-0), Dortmund players were solid and effective against PSG on Tuesday in the semi-final second leg of the Champions League. Despite the numerous opposing strikes (including four on the uprights), the teammates of Mats Hummels, author of a victorious header from a corner (0-1), perfectly negotiated their trip to the City of Lights. Enough to secure their ticket for the C1 final, scheduled for June 1 at Wembley (the third in BVB history). Against all odds.
“No one would have bet on us. Us either,” conceded Sébastien Haller on RMC Sport 1. “It’s a surprise. You have to know how to take a step back and a little perspective. You have to see where we were at the start of the season and we have to tell ourselves the truth when we had five unconvincing first league matches and lost 2-0 in Paris (at the start of the group stage of the Champions League, Editor’s note. ), we can tell anyone that Dortmund will end up in the final, no one believes it. We have to be clear about our level of play at that moment. We didn’t deserve to be here at all. If we are here today, it is because we were able to raise our heads, identify our shortcomings, raise our level of play and it paid off (…) We can say that we were perhaps less good, that we had success, luck. We all know that in football, luck comes about and we went looking for it. It’s just fantastic, improbable.”
“It seems a bit surreal.”
Same feeling from Gregor Kobel, the Borussia goalkeeper. “We conceded a lot of chances, we defended with passion. To play against Paris, with this attack, without conceding a goal, it’s amazing. Really bravo to the defense in front of me”, reacted the Swiss goalkeeper on RMC Sport 1. While he has just announced his departure at the end of the season, Marco Reus also had stars in his eyes: “We suffered a lot today. Ousmane Dembélé and Achraf Hakimi put a lot of effort into pace on the right side But we did it in the end, and later, we won’t be asked how we did it It’s the name Borussia Dortmund that is written for the final at Wembley. has always been there in the Champions League, it’s crazy!”
Edin Terzic himself had difficulty achieving his team’s performance straight away. “It seems a bit surreal,” said the Dortmund coach. “In both matches, we deserved to qualify for the final, when we win twice against such a team and go twice without conceding a goal against such force.”
