Paris 0-1 Dortmund (agg: 0-2): Hummels header seals Champions League final spot

A thumping header from Mats Hummels capped an impressive Dortmund performance across their UEFA Champions League semi-final tie with Paris Saint-Germain, who hit the woodwork on four occasions in the French capital.

Match in brief: Hummels has Dortmund heading to Wembley

Hummels directs his header into the netAFP via Getty Images

Trailing 1-0 after last week's fixture, Paris were aiming to become the first side to mount a second-leg comeback in both their quarter-final and last-four ties in this competition, and drafted Gonçalo Ramos into their front line to spearhead an attack that also contained Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé.

Two of that attacking trio tested Gregor Kobel early on as the home side began to exert pressure, but neither Mbappé or Ramos could find a way past the Dortmund No1, the Portuguese international also arrowing a crisp volley wide after a clever turn.

The visitors looked to exploit the hold-up play of first-leg goalscorer Niclas Füllkrug, who used his strength to hold off his marker before laying the ball into the path of the advancing Julian Ryerson, whose fierce shot with the outside of his right boot hit the side netting.

Mbappé then exploited some rare space down the left flank before embarking on a surging run across the edge of the area and picking out Warren Zaïre-Emery, who fed Dembélé, but the former BVB attacker powered wide.

Dortmund were forced to pick their moments to pounce and almost hit their opponents with a devastating counter, seconds after Hummels' last-ditch intervention had prevented Mbappé from turning Fabián Ruiz's cut-back goalwards. Karim Adeyemi was set racing away from deep inside the BVB half, but Gianluigi Donnarumma was equal to the 22-year-old's low effort.

Paris, who hit the woodwork twice in quick succession in the second half in Dortmund, struck the frame of the goal again shortly after the interval when Zaïre-Emery could only side-foot Ramos' flick against the upright from close range.

Warren Zaïre-Emery was one of four Paris players to hit the woodworkAFP via Getty Images

Barely four minutes later and Edin Terzić's Dortmund had doubled their aggregate advantage with a superb set piece. Julian Brandt's pinpoint corner picked out Hummels, who had gained some space at the far post. The 35-year-old, who started for Dortmund in the 2013 showpiece at Wembley, duly planted a downward header into the bottom corner past the dive of Donnarumma.

Paris began peppering Kobel's goal with regularity, but when they did manage to beat the visiting goalkeeper, they were frustrated by the woodwork. Nuno Mendes pounced on a Dortmund clearance just outside the box but his strike cracked the upright.

With time running out, Luis Enrique's men upped the pressure and Mbappé and Vitinha were both denied by the frame of the goal as Paris hit the woodwork for the fifth and sixth times across the tie as Dortmund held on for a famous victory.

PlayStation® Player of the Match: Mats Hummels (Dortmund)

"He put in an array of defensive work including blocks, interceptions, tackles, clearances, plus showed great leadership at the back – and, of course, provided the goal."
UEFA Technical Observer panel

Alex Clementson, Paris reporter

The old adage rings true once more: the biggest games are decided by the finest of margins. And it appears those margins are the widths of the woodwork. From an attacking perspective, Paris couldn’t have done much more but, ultimately, Dortmund's yellow wall demonstrated a masterclass in resilience and resolve. A Champions League campaign to be proud of for Luis Enrique's men, but a famous finale evades their clutches.

Matthias Rötters, Dortmund reporter

Once again, Dortmund showed that a strong team is more than the sum of its individual parts. BVB did have luck on their side with a number of Parisian strikes hitting the frame of the goal but the Black and Yellows earned their fortune with an impressive fighting performance. This BVB group is capable of anything – even at Wembley on 1 June.

Paris were unable to replicate their quarter-final turnaroundGetty Images

Reaction 

Luis Enrique, Paris coach: "Before anything else, the overriding feeling is sadness. We can’t say it any other way. We weren't inferior over the two legs. Football is a curious game, sometimes unfair. We couldn’t score despite having 31 shots on goal. But you win games by scoring goals, not hitting the woodwork."

Edin Terzić, Dortmund coach: "It’s almost surreal. I think in the grand scheme of things we deserved to reach the final. We came here to confront a team that has so many qualities. It’s thanks to team work, granted a little bit of luck too. I’m very proud of my team, my staff, and the entire club."

Mats Hummels, Player of the Match, speaking to DAZN: "I’ve scored far too few Champions League goals in my career, just five. Now is a good time to add to that number. Since the second match of the group stage, we've believed that we can prevail in every game – and I don't see why we shouldn't win at Wembley now. We remained active today and were able to take so much pace out of the game and atmosphere out of the stadium. That was our recipe for success today."

Marco Reus, Dortmund midfielder, speaking to DAZN: "Indescribable. After more than ten years, I am in the final with Dortmund again. Ousmane [Dembélé] and Achraf [Hakimi] brought a tremendous amount of pace and we suffered a lot. How we won the game, no-one will ask tomorrow. Shots against the post won’t matter tomorrow. What counts is that Borussia Dortmund are in the final again. Nobody expected this. It's just incredible."

Key stats

• Hummels' header was his first Champions League goal in 42 appearances, since finding the net for Bayern versus Ajax in October 2018.
• It was also the Dortmund defender's first goal in the Champions League knockout stages since striking for BVB against Shakhtar in the 2012/13 round of 16.
• Hummels is the third-oldest scorer in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, aged 35 years 143 days, behind only Ryan Giggs (37 years 148 days) in 2011 and Edin Džeko (37 years 54 days) in 2023.
• Dortmund have made it to the Champions League final for the third time, after winning the competition in 1997 and finishing as runners-up in 2013 at Wembley.
• Paris have won only one of their seven Champions League semi-final matches.
• Paris's starting line-up had an average age of 24 years 157 days, the youngest for a side at this stage of the competition since Arsenal (24 years 26 days) in 2008/09.

Fantasy star performers

Mats Hummels: 16 points
Nico Schlotterbeck: 8 points
Julian Brandt: 7 points
Ian Maatsen: 7 points

Line-ups

Paris: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Beraldo, Mendes; Zaïre-Emery (Lee 76), Vitinha, Fabián Ruiz (Asensio 63); Dembélé, Ramos (Barcola 63), Mbappé

Dortmund: Kobel; Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Maatsen; Can, Sabitzer; Sancho (Süle 67), Brandt (Nmecha 85), Adeyemi (Reus 56); Füllkrug

What's next?

Dortmund will face the winners of the other semi-final between Bayern and Real Madrid in the final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 1 June.