Borussia Dortmund reached their first Champions League final since 2013, outplaying Paris Saint-Germain in a 1-0 victory on Tuesday, despite a lackluster domestic season.
Dortmund secured their spot with an aggregate score of 2-0, having won the first leg by the same margin.
The crucial goal came in the second half when Mats Hummels headed in from a Julian Brandt corner. Moments earlier, PSG’s Warren Zaire-Emery narrowly missed a golden opportunity, volleying against the post from close range.
Despite the French giants dominating possession and amassing 30 shots to Dortmund’s seven, they were thwarted repeatedly, hitting the woodwork four times in the second half alone.
Kylian Mbappe expressed his disappointment post-match, stating, “We always want to win at PSG, we feel sad.”
“We should have scored. We had the chances to score (and) when you don’t, when you’re not efficient at both ends, it’s difficult to go through,” Mbappe said after Tuesday’s defeat.
At the start of the season, no one could have expected Dortmund to be in the final of the Champions League after they were drawn in a tough group alongside PSG, AC Milan and Newcastle.
But Edin Terzic’s side finished top before they got past PSV Eindhoven in the round of 16 and then knocked out Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals.
“The belief was there. We spoke about the game against Eindhoven (Dortmund’s last-16 tie) how short the road to London is. It’ll take us a bit of time to realize that, but we’re looking forward to it very much.”
The other semifinal pits Bundesliga’s Bayern Munich against Real Madrid, with their first leg ending in a 2-2 draw in Munich.
The Champions League final is set to be held at Wembley Stadium in London on June 1.
