Eindhoven (Netherlands) (AFP) – PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund tied 1-1 on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, at the end of a very close match that leaves everything open for the second leg.
First modification: 02/20/2024 – 23:23Last modification: 02/21/2024 – 00:01
3 min
The Dutch Donyell Malen, former PSV player, put the visitors ahead (24) with a powerful shot into the corner of the goal defended by the Argentine Walter Benítez, who could do nothing to prevent the goal.
Luuk de Kong, captain of the local team, equalized with a penalty (56) after a challenge by Mats Hummels on the American Malik Tillman in the area punished with the maximum penalty.
“The result leaves the tie in our hands,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic in statements to Amazon Prime.
“In the first half, we were good in playing with the ball. In the second half we didn’t do so well, and PSV was clearly better (…) We have to do well in front of our fans,” he added.
Both teams had numerous chances to win the game, but the lack of effectiveness, especially from the locals, leaves everything open for the second leg.
Before the visiting goal, PSV, the outstanding and undefeated leader in the Dutch championship, had warned with a shot from Tillman that went just past the post (16th).
Malen, who wore the red and white colors of PSV between 2018 and 2021, the year in which he joined Borussia Dortmund, received a ball in the area, with an angle that was too tight, but still took a powerful shot straight out of his hat. the squad to which Benítez could not react.
The 25-year-old did not celebrate the goal against his former team, with whom he scored 55 goals in just 43 games played.
Injured, PSV rushed towards the goal with more intensity, with actions led by the Belgian Johan Bakayoko and the Mexican Hirving Lozano.
– Meyer delivers under the sticks
Since the start of the season, the Dutch team has not yet lost a game in their home stadium, the Philips Stadion, and despite the initial setback, they managed to extend that statistic.
The tie came after a tackle by Mats Hummels on Tillman was punished with a penalty, despite the protests of the German players, who did not consider the knockdown as worthy of a penalty. De Jong’s shot was about to be stopped by the good stretch of goalkeeper Alexander Meyer, who started on Tuesday after the injury of Swiss Gregor Kobel in the warm-up.
Borussia Dortmund’s German player Mats Hummels makes a tackle on PSV’s American Malik Tillman, punished with a penalty, during the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 on February 20, 2024 in Eindhoven © JOHN THYS / AFP
“We should have brought much more calm to today’s game. We got too carried away by the atmosphere,” Hummels lamented in statements to Amazon Prime.
Neither team seemed to accept the tie, and Marius Wolf (71) was on the verge of putting Dortmund ahead again just a few minutes after coming on from the bench. The clearest for PSV was a powerful shot by the American Sergiño Dest (81), deflected with the mitts by Meyer.
“1-1 is not bad. We still have a chance, but we could have achieved a slightly more favorable result,” said PSV’s Dutch midfielder Joey Veerman, chosen as man of the match.
The second leg will be played on March 13 at the Westfalenstadion stadium, where the Germans will have the fearsome ‘Yellow Wall’ to achieve the necessary momentum to the quarterfinals, a phase they have not reached since the 2020-2021 season.
For the Dutch, the challenge is even greater, since they have not been able to get among the eight best teams in the top European competition since the 2006-2007 season.
© 2024 AFP