On Wednesday, Borussia Dortmund defeated Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal thanks to a goal from Niclas Füllkrug. In the 36th minute, Füllkrug superbly controlled a long pass over the top from Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck, and then he sent it past PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma with his next touch.

“This season, I’ve attempted to stick the ball in at the near post a few times already. This time, things went well, and Füllkrug was even more pleased that it happened during such a crucial game.

Dortmund’s victory gives them a slim lead heading into Tuesday’s second leg match in Paris, where the French champion will need to reverse the outcome to win Europe’s top trophy before Kylian Mbappé departs the team. PSG has pressure to secure a Champions League victory in order to validate over ten years of substantial investment from its Qatari proprietors. With its victory, Dortmund guaranteed its spot in the tournament for the following year, giving the Bundesliga five clubs in the expanded competition.Dortmund got off to a busier start and kept up the intensity throughout the match, supported by the majority of the 81,365 spectators in attendance, including the renowned “yellow wall” behind one of the goals. Nearly 10 more kilometers were covered by the home team than by the visitors, at 119.7. 

Lucas Hernández, the defender, left the game hurt while attempting to prevent Füllkrug from scoring. Hernández appeared to have sustained damage to his left leg.

Early in the second half, PSG exerted the most pressure as Mbappé struck the right post and Achraf Hakimi struck the left.

Dortmund withstood the pressure as Gregor Kobel stopped Mbappé’s subsequent attempt. 

Füllkrug continued to squander more excellent opportunities for the German team, and in the closing moments, Marquinhos produced an important stop to keep Julian Brandt out.

Veteran Mats Hummels of Dortmund stated, “It would have been nice if we could have made our counterattacks count to get a second goal at the end.” “But we need to get through in Paris now.”

The guests also passed up opportunities. 

On his return to Dortmund, Ousmane Dembelé missed a late chance to score, and Vitinha missed a shot that went just wide of the left post.

PSG coach Luis Enrique remarked, “We tried to keep the ball from them but it’s so difficult because they have a lot of quality.” Both with and without the ball, they make an excellent team. They performed admirably today in both game facets in that setting. I believe that the first half may have been lacking in energy, but the second half saw us produce several very clear opportunities. But we were unable to score.

Edin Terzić, the coach of Dortmund, made his first change in the 83rd minute, substituting veteran Marco Reus for the worn-out Karim Adeyemi.

The two-leg match winner will face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the June 1 final in London. In their semifinal first leg in Munich on Tuesday, the longtime rivals drew 2-2.