Champions League: Premier class through the back door: Magical BVB night – Sport – Schwarzwälder Bote
Champions League premier class through the back door: magical BVB night
By Heinz Büse and Florian Gut, dpa May 2nd, 2024 – 11:50 a.m
Dortmund’s Niclas Füllkrug celebrates his winning goal to make it 1-0 against Paris Saint-Germain. Photo: Matthias Schrader/AP
For months, BVB has been afraid of failing to qualify for the Champions League. But the 1-0 win in the semi-final against Paris relieves all torment – and fuels belief in Wembley.
Dortmund – All worries disappeared in one fell swoop. The final whistle at the end of a magical night of football was almost drowned in the hurricane-like cheers of the Dortmund fans and brought great relief to everyone involved.
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The 1-0 (1-0) win over Paris Saint-Germain in the first semi-final of the premier class not only gave BVB a good starting position for the second leg, but also immensely improved what had previously been a poor season. Mats Hummels summed it up. “We covered up our lousy Bundesliga season with a very good Champions League season,” said the defense chief, commenting on qualifying for the lucrative competition through the back door.
The fear of having to forego similar spectacular festivals in the Dortmund football cathedral in the future, such as those against Atlético Madrid and now against Paris, gave way to satisfaction. Thanks to Niclas Füllkrug’s goal (36th minute), Germany can no longer be pushed out of second place in the relevant UEFA rankings and receives an additional starting place in the premier class – in favor of the fifth-placed team. These are currently Dortmund, who can no longer fall back to sixth place.
Füllkrug: “That makes you proud”
With a broad grin, match winner Füllkrug described Borussia’s unusual steps towards happiness: “The path we chose is a little harder than the other.” The national striker referred to the large contribution of his own team: “It’s a very good feeling that we were able to iron out what we left behind in the Bundesliga. We were able to qualify on our own and not because of something else “That makes you proud.”
To the delight of coach Edin Terzić, BVB can continue to dream of a return to Wembley and a repeat of the 2013 final at the same venue against FC Bayern, who are also still in the running after the 2-2 home game against Real Madrid. But the happy ending in the fight for Champions League qualification did not obscure the football teacher’s view of the realities: “That doesn’t make our Bundesliga season any better. It just makes us feel a little softer, but of course we have it all imagined differently.”
“Mbappé crashes into a wall”
Lars Ricken, who was promoted from youth leader to club boss, could see the victory on his first day in his new position as a good omen. Ultimately, the now secured return to Europe should make the necessary and probably costly restructuring of the squad much easier. From now on the transfer market will be viewed more intensively. “This will help us with our planning in the coming weeks,” said sports director Sebastian Kehl.
In addition, the victory over the favored star ensemble led by exceptional player Kylian Mbappé helped attract greater international attention. It is possible that stars will therefore be more willing to move to BVB. There was particularly a lot of praise for the great passion of the black and yellow collective: “Mbappé crashes into a wall – it was a yellow one that got Borussia flying. She surpassed the French in all aspects of the game, expressing an intensity as “It would be the last game of their lives,” commented the Spanish newspaper “AS”.
Terzic warns about the second leg
But Borussia already felt in the second half how difficult the task could be in the second leg on May 7th on the Seine. Terzic’s team was lucky not only when Mbappé and Achraf Hakimi hit the post twice within a few seconds. “We managed to take a small advantage into the second leg. Nothing more,” warned the football teacher. “Next week’s task will be even more difficult when they use their power play. Today we had to withstand this force from the 45th to the 60th.”
However, a supposed advantage for the French champions is no longer valid. In order to be better prepared for the second duel with BVB on Tuesday (9 p.m.), the league game against Nice next weekend has been postponed. After qualifying for the Champions League early, BVB could also afford the luxury of resting numerous stars for the semi-final showdown in the now meaningless league duel with FC Augsburg on Saturday (3:30 p.m.). That’s not the only reason why sports director Kehl is traveling to Paris with new courage: “Today we saw that we also believe in ourselves.”