PSG breaks its hex with the eighth Champions

After three consecutive years falling in the knockout stages of the Champions League, PSG broke its hex after defeating Dortmund 2-0 and trailing 2-1 in the first leg in Germany. Neymar scored the first and Bernat signed the victory before the break.

The party was life or death for PSG. No public because of the coronavirus, and with a Tuchel gambling the position, the Parisians were forced to win to avoid another bump in the Champions League. The German left Mbappé on the bench (he was in doubt until the last minute), gave Sarabia the title and placed Paredes in the center of the field, next to Gueye. The losses of Thiago Silva, Verratti and Meunier already in themselves conditioned the initial approach. Favre, meanwhile, repeated the three-way system from the first leg.

It was not a brilliant first part in Paris. The lack of public was evident in the intensity that both teams printed for 45 minutes. The Parisians returned for an instant to seeing ghosts with Neymar, after a bad fall from the Brazilian in the 8th minute that left him uncertain for several minutes due to a blow to the shoulder.

Those of Favre settled for 20 minutes in the Parc des Princes, but without disturbing Keylor Navas. Sancho and Hazard were always Dortmund's options to come out on the counterattack, but the German team gave the impression of being very conservative. He did not look for the 0-1 and he only closed pass lines to avoid that Neymar received comfortable. Cavani had the clearest chance at 25, but Burki avoided 1-0 with a great save.

PSG turned the tie before the break thanks to two errors by the rival. Neymar's 1-0 lead, the Madrid academy player Achraf loses the mark very easily, and On Bernat's second goal, Dortmund's central defenders were uncoordinated, allowing Sarabia to receive a legal position and assist the left-back.

In the second part, PSG began to catch the result of the match. The 2-0 put the Parisians in quarters, and although it had some chance of danger, Dortmund gradually grew. Tuchel entered Kurzawa as winger to endure the result, Emre Can was expelled from a fight with Neymar and there was hardly time for anything else.