After the Champions League quarterfinals, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund set off for the first time to welcome REMATCH in the Group of Death (Group F).
In the first round of the tournament, the Dortmund Devils were outstanding at home. With the help of a yellow wall full of fans, the big center forward Niclas in the 35th minute of the first half Fü center back Nicoolkrug received a long pass from center back Schlotterbeck after the reverse offside first stop and then exploded, 1-0 to grab the header.
In the second round, Paris Saint-Germain returned to the Parc des Princes, but the whole game's accuracy was all wrong repeatedly hit the goal frame, but instead the Hornets re-played to the next city: in the 50th minute of the second half, Julian Old defender MatsBrandt manipulated a corner kick to accurately open the door, and after a smart reaction, Hummels nodded his head to break the goal. In the end, Dortmund completed the double away to PSG 0-1 (2-0 on aggregate), and the team advanced to the Champions Cup final for the third time in its history!
For Borussia Dortmund, whether or not another visit to Wembley turns their fortunes around, the result has been something to be proud of, from a 2-0 away win against PSG in Group F to a 1-1 word at home to their semi-final opponents.
Paris Saint-Germain have once again swept France this season. However, they have been frustrated once again in the Champions League and they are likely to send off ace striker Kylian Mbappé in the summer vacation...
It's no news that Paris Saint-Germain fancy flopping in the Champions Cup, but even with the invitation of Champions Cup gold medal coach Luis Enrique this season still can't help M's director to break through. Even more dumbfounding is the fact that quarterfinal opponent Borussia Dortmund, even though ranked first in Group F, still dominated the group against PSG, resulting in two rounds plus a total of two double kills + a complete shutout.
While the post-game stats seem to indicate that PSG was a more deserving team to win, was it all due to sheer luck, hitting the goal box six times in two rounds?
After the first round, Luis Enrique was confident of turning things around again, but after the second round, he tried to characterize the turnaround as an accident of hitting the goal box six times in two rounds. He even addressed the huddle for the players. He couldn't use shots and goals as a criterion to differentiate between players' mentality, and claimed that teams with so many shots on goal should theoretically score.
Well, um, you make a good point, but the bloody truth is that in those two rounds, within 180 minutes of injuries and stoppage of remedial time, the team known as the Giants suffered a double-check + a complete shutout with what was theoretically the best offensive player in the world in Director M's case.
On the other hand, Director M was also the number one culprit for failing to qualify for the final due to his invisibility for most of the game. However, one thing we need to know is that we can tolerate long periods of invisibility as long as we play when it counts.
Director M himself finished with 2 of the 6 shot frames and most of the others were related to him. Not the ultimate explanation to describe PSG's unexpected elimination as the most important player not playing.
If you want any final explanation, I'm afraid the only words are: that PSG can't shake off the label of being a landlord, and is not good enough to reach a Champions League final (the only Champions League final in PSG's history was a gift from Wuhan Pneumonia in 2019/20, and the top eight have taken a game entirely); and that Barcelona hasn't yet completed its rebuild, and doesn't have enough of a mind to qualify for a return to the Champions League quarter-finals .
Without Ronald Araújo's head short-circuiting the red and getting sent off. Even if Barcelona had put PSG into that one-two, the damage would still have been manageable. Now, even if the Hornets finally make their way to Wembley, it could be a battle of red and blue.
PSG's top eight has a lot of similarities to their top four. They beat a cold goal in the first round and even beat Dragons in the second. The only difference is that PSG completely beat Barcelona with the advantage of playing one more man, but he could only sigh in front of the mighty yellow and black iron wall.
PSG is not a thoughtful competitive team compared to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, who went out first and finished second. Both games saw more shots on goal than their opponents and more than half of the possession, but not to mention the offense that did the damage, and even the most threatening offense was Dortmund's.
In the first half of the second round, the home team seemed to know what they should be doing, constantly using side attacking passes, with Ousmane Dembélé, as he did at Barcelona, completing every single one of his downward passes, favoring the horizontal tragedy to find the visiting center backs frequently. Relatively few rib penetration attacks, and only two good ones where Director M stopped to look for a teammate before passing, instead of Ousmane Dembélé passing first regardless of his teammates in the middle.
When Gonçalo Ramos finished his first shot from the center in the second round. It was now the 60th minute. Then he was replaced because he was effective from the start. Director M was forced to go back to the center forward position, which he doesn't like.
Despite Dortmund being the worst possession team in the top four or even eight, the Hornets were very aware of their strengths and weaknesses. They turned the game into a war, but it was also far from killing the Redeyes, as Dortmund committed only one foul in the first half. After taking a 2-0 lead on aggregate, the Hornets drove the bus and played five at the back, and PSG then saw a lot of shots on goal, with two of the three frames coming from outside the box from long range.
