Champions League Semi Final: Dortmund – PSG

Dortmund will be looking to make their first final since 2013 when they faced Bayern at Wembley. Well, guess where this year’s final is, and guess which German team is in the other semi final? A Der Klasiker final repeat of 2013 is still on the cards. PSG reached the final of the 2020 final where they also lost against Bayern after a Kingsley Coman 2nd half goal. Both teams faced each other in this year’s group stage already with PSG beating Dortmund 2-0 at home in the opening round of the group stage. The return game ended in 1-1 with Dortmund in the end topping the group and PSG in 2nd place.

Dortmund Team News

Edin Terzic will be nervous of the injuries and doubts ahead of the clash. Attackers Malen and Haller are both potentially missing the game while also defenders Ian Maatsen and Mats Hummels are doubtful. The Dutch left wing back has a muscle injury while club legend Hummels has a shin problem that puts a question mark behind his name. Any of the 2 players missing the game will put a dent in Dortmund´s bid to reach the final. 

PSG Team News

PSG have seen the injury list slowly but steadily shrink over the course of the last few weeks. Currently the only players unavailable for the clash on Wednesday are long term injured Presnel Kimpembe, Sergio Rico and Layvin Kurzawa. All the players that helped beat PSG trash Barcelona out of the quarterfinals should be available to Luis Enrique. Luis Enrique will hope to have an inspired Kylian Mbappe guiding his side to a good result in what looks like to be his final season in Paris. 

Dortmund Form

Nothing as unpredictable as Borussia Dortmund games this season. Despite reaching the semi finals of the Champions League after topping the so called group of death, Edin Terzic´side sit in 5th place at the moment. If they do not win the Champions League they will need the extra designated champions league spot for the 2 best performing leagues which would also send the 5th team of that respective league into the Champions League. Because after last weekend’s heavy 4-1 defeat against Leipzig it looks virtually impossible to reach 4th place anymore. 

PSG Form

PSG are champions of France, after a lacklustre performance last weekend which ended in a 3-3 draw it looked like the Parisians had to wait another game before officially being crowned champions. However, Monaco´s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Lyon last Sunday meant that the difference is 12 points with 3 games left to play. Therefore, Luis Enrique has officially won his first French Ligue 1 title.It is hard to gauge PSG´s form based on the league games as they are such a class apart and do not need to fully focus for every game to still become champions, their performance away against Barcelona however does suggest that when it is necessary they rise to the occasion. 

What do the stats say?

• Mbappe has scored 4 goals in his last 2 away games in the Champions League
• PSG have won their last 2 away games in the Champions League
• Group stage game in Dortmund ended 1-1
• Dortmund are unbeaten at home in the Champions League this year

Our verdict

This is a difficult game to predict. PSG could be considered slight favourites and Mbappe will be fired up to keep his goalscoring record up. However, Dortmund showed great resilience in the game against Atletico and with the support of the Gelbe Wand everything is possible. Dortmund will hope that their injured players can feature tonight as some key names are doubtful ahead of the clash.