And with that, I’m done. Borussia Dortmund have a special group of players, a few of whom will presumably be ripped from their clutches in the summer. Enjoy them while you can. Bye!
Emre Can talks to BT Sport:
Really important. I think it was a big statement from the team, but we know it’s not the end, it’s just half-time. We’ll have a very difficult game in Paris, but we have to continue like that. We didn’t change that much [defensively], just everybody knew what he had to do. We didn’t change anything. We did it very well as a team and if we continue like that it will be very difficult to score against us. A big compliment to the team.
Of course [Haaland] is a great footballer and scores a lot of goals, but he’s also a great guy. A little bit crazy I think, funny, and hopefully will continue like that.
[To win the tie] I think we have to play like today. It was a good example of how we can play. We defended really well. Of course very difficult in Paris because they have world-class players, but I think we can do it. It would mean a lot to go through. Nobody expects it from us against Paris, but we have a good team and a young team and I hope we will do it in the second game.
Andy Brassell was at Signal Iduna Park tonight. Here’s his report:
In the third season of Project Paris, it was finally set up for Neymar to be the belle of the Champions League ball. It was supposed to be his night. Yet few can hold back the tide that is Erling Haaland these days. Without transforming the team the Norwegian significantly adjusted Borussia Dortmund’s fortunes and swept them to a heady victory over the returning Thomas Tuchel’s Paris Saint-Germain – in classic teenage style, late to rise before injecting the night with drama.
Much more here:
Thomas Meunier has a chat:
It was really difficult, really intense. It was very demanding physically. Obviously, maybe we deserved the draw but Dortmund were very good. They played like a home team, they didn’t lose one game here at home this season and we saw today it is so difficult. We thought they had defensive problems, but we didn’t create many chances. We weren’t really sharp in the last 20m and we can see a little bit of fatigue. We’ve played nearly 15 games since the beginning of January and you saw it tonight. It was really quiet by our side.
I think we just have to be focused. Take care of our rest. Just acting like professional football players, as good as we can, and we’ll see in the second leg. Pressure is there every day. That’s professional football and when we have such a team, we just have to prove every game that we are the best. Today it wasn’t really our best game but I have a lot of hope for the second game.
An excellent performance from Borussia Dortmund, who look so bright and lively, and in Erling Haaland have a striker in astonishing, record-smashing form. A disappointing performance from PSG, who have enough ability in attack to magic up a goal anyway.
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Final score: Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Paris Saint-Germain
90+3 mins: The corner is headed over the bar, and that’s it!
90+2 mins: Nine seconds of the two minutes to go, and Marquinhos’s shot goes wide. Deflected, says the referee.
90+1 mins: This referee isn’t a fan of stoppage time. There was none at all in the first half, and there’ll be just two minutes in the second.
90 mins: Sancho goes off, apparently with a slight limp, and Marcel Schmeltzer comes on.
89 mins: Another booking, this time Verratti. He and Meunier will both miss the second leg because of their bookings.
87 mins: Thomas Meunier is booked for pulling Reyna down.
87 mins: Borussia give the ball away and Neymar checks onto his right foot and curls in a shot that would probably have gone in had a defender not been standing in the way.
86 mins: Another chance for Dortmund, but Sancho plays in Hakimi, who from an acute angle shoots well wide of the far post.
86 mins: Haaland’s second actually clipped the post on its way in. Tremendous. [Later update after watching further replays: no it didn’t]
This angle of the Erling Braut Håland's goal is AMAZING!
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 18, 2020
The sound when the ball hits the back of the net is so, so satisfying 👌
Watch 360° highlights and instant replays of EVERY goal on the BT Sport app 📲 pic.twitter.com/sA3Gcvibow
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84 mins: Can is taken out by Verratti and stays down, forcing a brief stoppage.
83 mins: Sancho beats Verratti, checks back, tries to beat Verratti again and loses the ball. Once was probably enough.
CL goals this season:
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) February 18, 2020
Barcelona 9-10 Erling Haaland
82 mins: Neymar hits the post! A long cross from the left is headed back across goal, is allowed to bobble about a bit, and Neymar latches onto the loose ball and pummels a shot against the outside of the post!
81 mins: That was just outrageous from Haaland. His first was a bit lucky, and converted from about two yards. That, though, was a magnificent strike. And here’s a fine fact:
Dortmund’s current attack born in Leeds, Sunderland and London
— James Horncastle (@JamesHorncastle) February 18, 2020
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Paris Saint-Germain (Haaland, 78 mins)
Haaland nearly takes the net off with a left-footed cannonball from 20 yards that gave Navas no chance at all!
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77 mins: I’m not sure what that was from Zagadou, but it wasn’t good. Pablo Sarabia has come on for Di Maria.
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain (Neymar, 76 mins)
An equaliser! Mbappé sprints into the area, past a really wild challenge from Zagadou that hindered his own teammates rather than his opponent, and slides the ball across goal for Neymar to tap in!
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74 mins: An excellent spell of play for Borussia, with Sancho constantly offering himself, teasing opponents and making himself an all-round menace. Eventually Hakimi tries a cross, which deflects to Navas.
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Paris Saint-Germain (Haaland, 69 mins)
It’s that man again! A fine move, a good cross from the right, Guerreiro’s shot deflects kindly into the path of Haaland, and he pokes in!
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67 mins: At the end of PSG’s best few minutes of the match by a distance Borussia make their first change: Giovanni Reyna comes on, replacing Thorgan Hazard.
67 mins: Neymar’s chipped pass from the left is only just too long for Di Maria, who was bursting unchecked into the area.
66 mins: And another! Mbappé exchanges passes with Neymar and slams a right-footed shot towards goal, which Burki saves!
65 mins: A shot on target! From a PSG player! Mbappé has a pop, but it’s from an impossible angle and Burki gathers at the second attempt.
62 mins: Piszczek gives the ball away to Kurzawa and runs after him for about 50 yards, constantly attempting tactical fouls. The full-back does excellently to hold him off and admirably to stay on his feet, but at the end of all that he hits a wild pass straight into touch.
59 mins: Another booking for a foul on Witsel. This time it’s Neymar, who seems to jab an elbow into the Belgian’s jaw, normally a red-card offence but there is so little force that a sending-off would have been a bit disproportionate.
57 mins: Haaland controls Can’s long, high pass and escapes from his marker, but Marquinhos comes round to cover the danger and clear the ball.
54 mins: PSG have survived the storm, it seems. Gueye however gets booked for a foul on Witsel.
50 mins: And close again! Haaland robs Kimpembe and runs goalwards, but rather than crack a shot with his right foot he tries to cut onto his left, and is crowded out.
50 mins: Close! Sancho taps the ball across goal from just to the right, but it finds a white shirt when anyone in yellow would have had a tap-in.
49 mins: Hakimi flies past Kurzawa and into space on the right. He carries the ball into the area but too close to goal, and Navas comes out to deflect the pull-back out of play.
47 mins: Sancho gives the ball to Mbappé on the halfway line, and for a moment the Frenchman threatens to skip away beyond the defence. But then he doesn’t.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! PSG get the second half under way. I’m not sure they’ve particularly dissatisfied with this scoreline, but so far they’ve been much closer to falling behind than to going ahead.
The PSG players are back in the tunnel. Thiago Silva appears to be leading an animated discussion about something.
Half time: Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Paris Saint-Germain
45 mins: Just three seconds of stoppage time at the end of a first half played at a high tempo and with frequent outbreaks of skilfulness, but with little by way of goal threat. Borussia have had more pace and endeavour, and been the more impressive side by a distance.
44 mins: Witsel wins the day’s first yellow card, halting a PSG break with an overly enthusiastic shoulder charge on Di Maria.
40 mins: PSG have done pretty much nothing interesting or useful in the attacking third. Borussia are getting numbers back when required, holding a highish line, compressing play, and the visitors haven’t found a way through the crowd.
36 mins: Another threatening Borussia break. Can roars down the middle, with Haaland to his right and Sancho to his left; he goes left, Sancho crosses and it flicks off the top of Haaland’s head on its way out of play.
35 mins: Another optimistic shot from Borussia, Haaland slapping an effort wide of the near post from just inside the penalty area.
33 mins: Verratti tries another of his chipped through-balls, this time towards Neymar. Hakimi gets back, nips in front of him and ushers the ball out of play, to which Neymar responds by shoving him in the back and then trying to kick him.
31 mins: Hazard tries to cross from the right but hits it straight into Kurzawa. Sancho, on the other side, is another level of dangerous at present.
27 mins: Save! Sancho curls a shot across goal and Navas, at full strength, pushes it away!
25 mins: Can vaguely touches Di Maria in the back, and the Argentinian goes down as if assaulted. He gets a free-kick, but the referee keeps his cards in his pocket.
24 mins: Sancho bursts into the box and cracks in a low cross, but Navas gets down and holds it. Not much by way of goalmouth action and a little too much free-kick shopping, but this has been a promising first quarter.
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21 mins: Penalty shout! Hakimi pulls the ball back to Can, in space on the edge of the area, but he takes an imperfect touch and Verratti gets back to stick a leg out and poke the ball away from him. Can goes down, but there was no foul.
19 mins: Zagadou wins the ball, carries it elegantly into midfield and then, under no pressure, passes straight to a white shirt. Then Can brings down Neymar, who rolls around a lot.
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14 mins: Chance for Borussia! PSG have a corner, but Haaland heads it clear and suddenly the home side break. A few seconds later it’s five against three, but rather than pass to one of his teammates Sancho carries it to the edge of the area and then scuffs a shot wide.
13 mins: Guerreiro has Borussia’s first shot. It’s from 30 yards out, and it’s pretty useless, but it’s a start.
11 mins: Neymar takes the free-kick, but curls it a yard or so wide of the near post.
10 mins: Neymar carries the ball from left to right, and after a mistimed challenge comes in he goes down. Quite a long time after. He clearly wasn’t brought down in any reasonable interpretation of the phrase, but the referee buys it.
7 mins: Dortmund push up, and Verratti tries to punish them by chipping the ball through to Mbappé, but the striker is narrowly offside.
Updated
4 mins: Di Maria tries to dispossess Can with a sliding tackle, but never gets within two yards of either man or ball. It really is as pointless an attempted challenge as you’ll ever see.
2 mins: Haaland passes back to Sancho from the halfway line and then sprints forward, and for a moment a pass beyond the defence would have released him, but the ball instead goes right to Hakimi. Haaland is unimpressed.
1 min: An early reducer from Kurzawa, who slides in from behind to bring Hakimi down, wide on Borussia’s right.
1 min: Peeeeeep! The home side get the game started!
They’re out, hands have been shaken and coin tossed. It’s football time! Well, very nearly.
The players are in the tunnel! Kick-off in five minutes or somesuch.
“The Question: Is Marquinhos the new Marcel Desailly?” ponders Christopher Faherty, adding: “I don’t actually believe this and anticipate him to be playing centre half regularly before the next World Cup.” I do enjoy a late-career positional shift. Marquinhos is no Paul Warhurst, but still, good effort.
Here, meanwhile, is their handy illustration of Borussia Dortmund’s starting line-up:
Uefa’s official teamsheet has PSG in a 4-3-3 formation, thus:
Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that PSG will not be playing 4-4-2 tonight, though whether they line up as 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 remains to be seen. There’s definitely a front three. I think.
The night’s first key question: does Rio Ferdinand always have such a glittery beard?
Some Borussia-based news from earlier: the club announced the permanent signing of Emre Can, who has agreed a four-and-a-half-year contract. He had joined on loan from Juventus last month with an option to buy for £21m.
Zwei Stunden vor #BVBPSG hätten wir da noch etwas zu verkünden. 😬
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) February 18, 2020
🙌 Der #BVB und @juventusfc haben sich auf einen permanenten Transfer von @emrecan_ geeinigt. Cans Leihe endet im Juni. Ab dem 1. Juli tritt ein bis zum 30.06.2024 gültiger Kontrakt in Kraft. 🤝 #einfachEmre pic.twitter.com/uyqd7ANMdM
The teams!
The team sheets are in, and the names upon them are these:
Borussia Dortmund: Burki, Piszczek, Hummels, Zagadou, Hakimi, Can, Witsel, Guerreiro, Sancho, Haland, Hazard. Subs: Dahoud, Gotze, Schulz, Akanji, Schmelzer, Reyna, Hitz.
Paris Saint-Germain: Navas, Meunier, Thiago Silva, Kimpembe, Kurzawa, Gueye, Marquinhos, Verratti, Di Maria, Mbappe, Neymar. Subs: Kehrer, Cavani, Sergio Rico, Icardi, Sarabia, Draxler, Nianzou Kouassi.
Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz.
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Hello world!
Will this finally be the year for Paris Saint-Germain? Ten points clear at the top of Ligue 1, they almost certainly have another domestic title coming their way, but their pursuit of European glory has so far remained unfulfilled. If winning is a habit they should be just fine, given that they last lost a game in any competition on the first day of November, when they stumbled 2-1 at Dijon, while Borussia Dortmund have lost two of their last three in league and cup. Curiously, word on the street is that PSG will rip up their tactical template and play without a back four for the first time this season in order to mirror Borussia’s 3-4-3, which seems a big call on the part of Thomas Tuchel, who will already be under the microscope as he comes up agaisnt the club he coached from 2015 to 2017.
So after all that talk about PSG’s 4-4-2 system, L’Equipe reports that Thomas Tuchel is actually going to mirror Dortmund’s shape and send his team out in a 3-4-3. Neymar, Mbappe and Di Maria in attack, Icardi on the bench https://t.co/WCNCqDtWvj
— Tom Williams (@tomwfootball) February 18, 2020
You will gather from the above that Neymar is back, having missed PSG’s last four games. “Neymar is very, very good, but there is also Mbappe or [Angel] Di Maria. I could count 10 players,” said Lucien Favre, when asked for his thoughts on the issue. In other words, he knows his side are in for a tough night, which is why he was talking up the appeal of low-scoring football last night. “I prefer to see a nice game, but sometimes a nice game is about good defensive play,” he added. “Sometimes I have nothing against winning 1-0 or playing a 0-0. If there is an offensive style of play, people are happy – but not always the coaches.”
Here’s hoping for a match that makes us all happy tonight.
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