Paris Saint-Germain had no shortage of chances and possession in their Champions League semifinal loss to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, but they didn’t have the one thing that mattered: goals.
With nearly 70 percent of the ball and 30 shots in the 1-0 second leg loss, the Ligue 1 champs hit the woodwork four times and came away empty-handed in a 2-0 aggregate result that sent Dortmund to the final.
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Their coach Luis Enrique had one word to describe it: “Unbelievable.”
“Yes, of course. Difficult match and I think a tight match, but to be honest, I think we deserve to win that match,” the PSG coach said afterward. “We hit the post six times [in two legs] and we didn’t score a goal. It’s unbelievable. Football is so unfair sometimes.”
Mats Hummels headed Borussia Dortmund into the Champions League final with a goal early in the second half moments after Warren Zaïre-Emery missed an open goal for PSG.
Dortmund won both legs 1-0 and largely contained PSG striker Kylian Mbappé, who is leaving the club at the end of the season — with his likely destination Real Madrid.
PSG had long spells of possession in the last 10 minutes and Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel pushed Mbappé’s deflected close-range shot onto the crossbar with a superb one-handed save and the Parc des Princes crowd groaned when midfielder Vitinha‘s thumping 25-meter strike rattled the woodwork.
“I don’t think we were inferior in either of the two games,” Luis Enrique said. “The result is what it is and I congratulate them and wish them the best for the final. From our side, we need to recover from this heavy blow.
“It is a sad moment when you lose and especially this way. I congratulate Borussia, they have had an outstanding Champions League and in the two games they had competed very well. We have six posts in total, 31 shots but we have not scored a goal. It feels impossible to believe”
Coach Edin Terzić’s team will play either record 14-time champion Madrid or six-time winner Bayern Munich on June 1 at Wembley Stadium. Madrid and Bayern drew 2-2 in the first leg and play on Wednesday.
“Last season, we lost the championship at home on the last matchday. I’m happy that we can now give something back to the fans,” Terzic said, remembering how Bayern Munich snatched the Bundesliga title from Dortmund on goal difference in 2022-23.
“[Going to the fans] was a very emotional moment, a beautiful moment. We wished it for last season’s last matchday. But today we could pay something back, keep them dreaming and now we’ll do everything to bring the trophy back home.”
Dortmund is on course for its second Champions League trophy after winning in 1997.
For PSG, it’s another season ending without raising the trophy their Qatari owners so crave.
“The players and coach gave their all. Congratulations to Dortmund, we deserved better. It’s a tough game. I’m proud of my team, the youngest in Europe,” PSG president Nassar al-Khelaifi said.
“We’ve reached the semifinals three times in five years. That’s not our objective, it’s still the final. That’s soccer, you have to accept it and sometimes it’s not fair. We’ll accept it.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.
Source Agencies
