Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund served up plenty of entertainment in the Champions League quarter finals, and their meeting in the semis promises more of the same, PSG manager Luis Enrique said on Tuesday.
Both sides came back from first-leg defeats to reach the semi-finals, PSG winning 4-1 in Barcelona after a 3-2 loss in Paris and Dortmund beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 to recover from their defeat in Spain.
“I think that is the way it went in the quarter finals based on the playing style of Dortmund and the way that we play,” Luis Enrique told a press conference. “I think it could be a wonderful spectacle, not just for the two fan bases, but for everybody who loves football. I think there will be goals, given the quality and the ability to reach the opposition goal on both teams.”
PSG had never before overturned a first-leg defeat at home in the Champions League, and while the coach believes it can help his players, he also knows that history counts for little at this stage.
“History is great, but our goal is to win tomorrow. We don’t want to leave it to chance and think about the second leg at the Parc des Princes,” Enrique said.
‘Unstoppable’ Mbappe
Borussia Dortmund’s injury worries have reduced and coach Edin Terzic is hopeful that all but two players will be fit for the on Wednesday.
Terzic said on Tuesday that left-back Ramy Bensebaini and young forward Julien Duranville are definitely out of Wednesday’s match, but that others can return after missing the team’s 4-1 loss at Leipzig in the Bundesliga
on Saturday.
Emre Can and Ian Maatsen are back and well-rested after serving suspensions at the weekend.
“Marcel Sabitzer and Donyell Malen took part in training again yesterday (Monday),” Terzic said. “Donny couldn’t take part in everything. Marcel felt much better and was very happy.
“Sébastien Haller could take part in some of the training and we’ll see today (Tuesday) how the final training session develops. For now, we’re assuming that the guys will be available tomorrow (Wednesday).”
Ivory Coast forward Haller has been labouring with a persistent left ankle injury.
Dortmund, who knocked out Atlético Madrid to reach the final four, have already faced PSG in the group stage, losing 2-0 in Paris before drawing 1-1 at home and topping the group. “Now PSG look to be at their very peak this season with only one defeat in 2024 and a good run of results. We will have to show an improved performance from that in Dortmund.”
“We are confident that will show it tomorrow (Wednesday) and next week in Paris. The clear goal is to gain a small advantage after the game tomorrow (Wednesday).
“We know we have to play at least 180 minutes at the highest level to have any shot at our dream,” he said.
But, Terzic is aware that PSG, which already has the French league title wrapped up, need to finally win Europe’s premier competition to justify more than a decade of huge investment from their Qatari owners.
“They have added a very, very high level of quality to this team, a team that has been built up in recent years to win the Champions League,” Terzic said.
“At the start of the season, they may not have performed so well, but they always got their results, perhaps not yet with the performances they had imagined. But, they improved a lot during the first half of the season.”
Terzic suggested Enrique’s team was peaking at the right time. “It’s not easy to stop them, though every team tries,” Terzic said. “If you take Kylian Mbappé, for example, with his exceptional individual quality, he has now scored 43 goals in 44 games. Opponents set themselves the goal of not letting him score in 44 games. It doesn’t always work.”
