The German club Borussia Dortmund managed yesterday, Wednesday, to defeat Paris Saint-Germain, with Nicholas Vollkrug scoring the only winning goal near the end of the first half, in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.
The "Black and Yellow" team took advantage of the home factor and the support of their fans, with Dortmund fans providing impressive support. Photos and videos from the stands of the "Signal Iduna Park" stadium flooded social media, accompanied by enthusiastic comments from football fans.
First Victory Vollkrug scored the only goal of the match in the 36th minute with a shot from inside the penalty area, becoming the third player to score for Dortmund in the quarter-finals and before the final of the same edition, after Robert Lewandowski in 2012-2013 and Lars Ricken in 1996-1997.
This is Dortmund's first victory over PSG this season, after two previous encounters in the group stage, where they lost 0-2 away in the first match and drew 1-1 in the second.
A Massive Attendance of Dortmund Fans at the Match A Massive Attendance of Dortmund Fans at the Match - X PSG showed two different faces during the two halves of the match. They were not very dangerous in the first half but reacted after the break, missing twice to score due to saves from the opposing goalkeeper. However, they failed to equalize.
The second leg will be held in Paris on May 7, with the winner facing the winner of the other semi-final between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, who drew 2-2 in the first leg on Tuesday.
The Fifth Place Borussia Dortmund manager Edin Terzic said: "It's a deserved victory, a good collective performance. It could have been possible to score more goals, just like for our opponent. That's why I think the result is good. We ran a lot, but that's necessary in a match like this."
He added: "Effort is needed to deserve to go to Wembley (where the final takes place). All we need now is to draw in the second leg, but we also want to win next week."
With this victory, Germany secures a fifth qualifying place for the Champions League next season. Dortmund is the main beneficiary currently, occupying fifth place in the Bundesliga, with three games remaining.
PSG hopes to qualify in the second leg, as they have done twice after being behind in knockout rounds over the past four seasons, notably against Dortmund in 2019-2020 (lost 1-2 away and won 2-0 at home).
Dortmund Players Salute Their Fans After the Win - Reuters Dortmund Players Salute Their Fans After the Win - Reuters Match Flow PSG, recently crowned French champions, dominated the start of the first half, and the right side of the field was more active thanks to breakthroughs from Ousmane Dembélé and Achraf Hakimi.
Dembélé shot twice early in the first half but missed the target each time. Their team also did not capitalize on a dangerous low cross played by the French player near the end of the first half.
Dortmund, champions in 1997 and seeking to reach the final for the first time since 2013, tightened their defense and relied on counter-attacks. They were more dangerous in attack and managed to limit the dangerous actions of French star Kylian Mbappé, who did not pose a real threat to the opposing goal in the first half.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, PSG's goalkeeper, stopped a close-range shot from Marcel Sabitzer midway through the first half.
In the 36th minute, Dortmund managed to take the lead through Vollkrug, who controlled a long pass from Nico Schulz well and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper to score with a powerful shot from inside the penalty area.
Sabitzer could have doubled the lead for his team a minute before the end of the first half, but his close-range shot was saved by the goalkeeper.
The Second Half PSG's performance improved significantly in the second half under the leadership