Fullkrug leads Dortmund to a 1-0 victory over Kylian Mbappé’s PSG in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals | football news

Niclas Füllkrug scored as Borussia Dortmund earned a 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.

Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck sent a long pass over the top for Füllkrug to brilliantly control with his first touch before beating PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma with his next in the 36th minute.

“It’s not the first time I’ve tried to hit the ball at the near post this season. This time everything went well and I am even happier that it was in such an important match,” said Füllkrug.

The victory gives Dortmund a narrow lead before the teams play again in the second leg in Paris next Tuesday, when the French champions will need to reverse the result if they are to capture Europe’s biggest prize before Kylian Mbappé leaves the club.

PSG is under pressure to finally win the Champions League and justify more than a decade of huge investments by its Qatari owners.

Dortmund’s victory secured qualification for next season’s tournament and gives the Bundesliga five teams in the expanded tournament. Dortmund are guaranteed to finish at least fifth.

With the roar of the majority of the 81,365 fans present, including the famous “yellow wall” behind one of the goals, Dortmund got off to a more active start and maintained their intensity throughout the match. The local team ran 119.7 kilometers, almost 10 more than the visitors.

Defender Lucas Hernández was injured after trying to prevent Füllkrug’s goal. It appeared that Hernández suffered an injury to his left leg.

PSG pressed harder at the start of the second half, when Mbappé hit the right post before Achraf Hakimi hit the left post.

Gregor Kobel saved Mbappé’s next shot and Dortmund survived the pressure.

Füllkrug wasted more good chances for the German team, while Marquinhos made a crucial block to clear Julian Brandt’s goal later on.

“It would have been nice if we could have taken advantage of our counterattacks to get a second goal at the end,” said Dortmund veteran Mats Hummels. “But now we have to get ahead in Paris.”

The visitors also missed chances.

Ousmane Dembelé should have scored on his return to Dortmund when he shot late, then Vitinha fired wide of the left post.

“We try to take the ball away from them, but it is very difficult because they have a lot of quality,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique. “They are a great team with and without the ball. Today, in that environment, they were great in both aspects of the game. I think maybe we lacked intensity in the first half, but in the second we created clear things.” Clear opportunities, but we couldn’t score.”

Dortmund coach Edin Terzić made his first change in the 83rd minute, bringing on veteran Marco Reus for the exhausted Karim Adeyemi.

The winner of the first leg will play either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the final in London on June 1. The old rivals drew 2-2 in the first leg of the semi-finals in Munich on Tuesday.