Champions League: Kylian Mbappé, PSG eliminated by Borussia Dortmund
There will be no fairytale ending for Kylian Mbappé at Paris Saint-Germain. A goal from Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels was enough to beat PSG 1-0 on Tuesday in the French capital and send the visitors to next month’s UEFA Champions League final. Dortmund won the two-leg, home and home, total goals wins series 2-1 on aggregate after last week’s one-goal victory in Germany. Mbappé is expected to leave his hometown club, which is desperate to win club soccer’s most coveted title for the first time, this summer.
BVB will meet either record 14-time European champ Real Madrid or chief Bundesliga rival Bayern Munich in the June 1 final at Wembley Stadium in London. Real and Bayern play the decisive game of their two-leg series on Wednesday in Spain. The two sides played to a thrilling 2-2 tie last week in Munich.
Here are a few quick thoughts on Tuesday’s contest.
Play of the game
After a scoreless first half, Hummels struck five minutes after the intermission. The big center back soared above PSG defender Lucas Beraldo to nod Julian Brandt’s corner kick past home backstop Gianluigi Donnarumma, doubling Dortmund’s aggregate advantage:
Turning point
Hummels’ backbreaking goal. Down two goals on aggregate against a team that was already more than happy to sit back and nurse its slim lead, PSG was suddenly forced to throw caution to the wind and numbers into the attack. They needed a quick response. Try as they might, though, Mbappé & Co. never got any closer to keeping their title dream alive.
Key stat
PSG dominated the numbers, controlling 70-percent of the possession and sending an astounding 30 shots toward the visitors’ goal. But the key stat here is four, as in the four shots that the Parisians managed to get past Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel but not his post or crossbar. All four times the hosts hit the woodwork came in the second half, including a header by Mbappé in the 86th minute.
What’s next for Borussia Dortmund?
The Black and Yellow are headed back to the Champions League final for the first time in 11 years. Dortmund lost that match, which was also at Wembley, to Bayern. BVB was the underdog that day, and will be again in England no matter which global titan emerges from the other side of the bracket.
Just getting to the grand finale is a major triumph for this Dortmund team, which sits way back in fifth place in Germany’s top division. Yet now that they’ve made it this far, coach Edin Terzić and his players are unlikely to be satisfied with being the bridesmaids. Last season, BVB blew its chance to win its first Bundesliga title in more than a decade in the final game of the campaign, handing Bayern its 11th consecutive crown in the process. Anything can happen over 90 minutes. If somehow Dortmund can pull off an upset next month after what happened last term and win the Champions League for the first time since 1997, it would be a redemption story for the ages.
What’s next for Paris Saint-Germain?
Almost certainly a future without France’s favorite son. Under its deep-pocketed Qatari ownership, PSG has been throwing money at planet futbol’s biggest stars in the hopes of claiming that coveted first continental crown. David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Neymar and even Lionel Messi came and left without checking that box. World Cup winner Mbappé now seems destined to follow, with Real his presumed destination.
Mbappé no doubt hoped to secure his legacy with PSG by delivering them the trophy on his way out the door. But after a brilliant performance in the comeback win over Barcelona in the quarterfinals, he was unable to duplicate it in either leg this time. That may have been the difference in the end.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
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