Key events
Half-time reading.
Half-time Borussia Dortmund 0-0 PSG
Somehow, we have had no goals. This could easily be Dortmund 2-4 PSG at the break. With that Newcastle goal against Milan, PSG are currently heading to the Europa League. Dortmund will top the group, if things stay the same.
45 min: From the resulting free-kick, PSG again push up for offside but Hummels breaks the trap at the back post and heads just wide. Oooooooohhhh, what a chance for a veteran!
44 min: The lull doesn’t last long! Mbappé releases Muani, who is clean through on goal, but Kobel spreads himself well and blocks the shot with his leg! Muani is having a stinker!
Dortmund immediately counter attack and Marquinhos is booked for bringing down Bynoe-Gittens after the Englishman had got clear of Hakimi.
42 min: One goal here changes everything. After a rip-roaring opening 40 minutes, we have something of a lull here.
39 min: PSG playing a dangerous game in defending set-piece free-kicks. They are pushing up aggressively, which leaves the Dortmund attackers with a free run at the cross. So far it’s working, Fullkrug is the latest to be caught offside, but surely Dortmund’s players will get wise to it soon.
37 min: Now, then. PSG must either score here, or hope that Milan can equalise if they are to avoid Europa League football. What a disaster that would be for Luis Enrique. I’d be surprised if he wasn’t fired on the spot, such is the culture at PSG.
34 min: Huge news from Newcastle! They have taken the lead against Milan! Joelinton with the goal to make it 1-0!
That means that, as things stand, it is Newcastle that will finish second, on account of their head-to-head record (versus PSG) being better. Here’s the live table.
32 min: Dortmund so close to scoring! They have two penalty shouts (neither were worth a VAR check) before Ozcan drives a long range boomer from downtown, around 30 yards out. Donnarumma can only parry the ball and Adeyemi can’t convert the rebound! It was an open goal but it came to the diminutive German quickly.
30 min: This should be about 3-0 to PSG. How many times have we seen the French side blow it in the Champions League. They are not ruthless enough. It may well come back to bite them.
28 min: An email from Joe Pearson.
“Sort of a neutral, but I would love to see Dortmund win here, and one of the other teams win, so that PSG would be forced to play in the Europa League. Can you imagine how disinterested they would be? That would be delightful!”
I’m sure Joe is not the only person out there who would like the same outcome.
25 min: Signs of life for Dortmund, as Reus brings a sharp save out of Donnarumma! Some untidy defending sees the ball ping around the PSG box, and Reus takes charge, controlling the ball on his chest and firing at goal. Straight at the Italian goalkeeper, who tips it over. Anywhere else, and that surely would have been our opener.
24 min: What a game this is, by the way.
22 min: HOW ARE PSG NOT AHEAD?! Adeyemi gives a sloppy pass away in midfield and PSG pounce. Mbappé wins his duel and slips a through ball to Muani. Initially it looks like the €95m forward is going to check back and wait for support, but instead he zooms past the ageing Hummels. One-on-one with the keeper, Muani opts to use his stronger right foot, poking the ball a few inches wide of the post. Dortmund’s goal is living a charmed life.
20 min: The home crowd are trying to give their team a lift, but Dortmund’s players look a little shellshocked. They have had a rough seven or eight minutes.
18 min: Barcola hits the post! Dortmund are hanging on here a little! PSG break with Mbappé, who pokes the ball through to Barcola on the left wing. The 21-year-old cuts inside and curls a real banana shot against Dortmund’s far post!
17 min: Mbappé goes clean through! The World Cup winner rounds Kobel and rolls the ball into an empty ne … no! Süle sprints back and with the goal gaping, somehow hooks the ball over his own bar! What a clearance! Especially as Mbappé’s finish was bouncing, so made the clearance even more challenging. PSG have really stepped it up.
16 min: Huge miss from Lee! The South Korean has missed an open goal from six yards out with his weaker right foot! Wow, an unbelievable howler, and all the PSG players have their heads in the hands. Goal kick to Dortmund. It looks as though Muani would have been offside in the build up, but Lee didn’t know that when he skewed his shot wide.
13 min: Big chance for Dortmund and Wolf, who seems to be operating at right-back, right-wing back and even centre forward. He’s causing PSG all sorts of problems, the French side are all at sea defensively. Wolf exchanges a neat one-two with Reus and it’s only a magnificent covering tackle from Hernandez that stops Wolf converting from 12 yards. It should be a corner, but the referee whistles for a goal kick!
12 min: Vitinha tries his luck from range. It’s a fiercer effort than Reus’, but Kobel does well to palm it away.
10 min: Reus brings a save out of Donnarumma! The German’s shot was a bobbly awkward one, and the PSG keeper turns it behind. Certainly a better save than the one that allowed Alexander Isak to score from a rebound in PSG’s last match against Newcastle.
8 min: Wolf has the freedom of the right wing and gets to PSG’s byline (again) without being tracked. But a heavy touch allows Hernandez to scramble back and he makes a good recovering tackle, in fairness.
6 min: Now PSG are on the front foot. They work the ball meticulously into Dortmund’s box but Barcola takes an extra touch and can’t get his shot away. Dortmund clear. The PSG winger was guilty of overplaying.
4 min: Free-kick out wide for Dortmund, and Brandt drifts a delightful ball into the ‘corridor of uncertainty’ in PSG’s box, but no player makes contact. Terzic will be fuming that one of his attackers didn’t gamble there.
2 min: This game is so open! PSG pour forward and Dortmund hit the French side on the counter attack! Wolf strides forward on the right wing completely unopposed, zings a low ball across PSG’s box and it’s only a nifty interception from Marquinhos that stops Reus from having a free shot from eight yards out!
Peeeeeep! We’re off in Germany.
The teams are out. Dortmund in their famous yellow and black. PSG in their changed strip of white with a blue and red trim. Here we go!
Gregor Kobel, Dortmund’s vice-captain, will take the armband tonight in Can’s absence. The 26-year-old has quickly developed into one of the continent’s finest keepers, but has flown slightly under the radar, partly because Yann Sommer is the No 1 for Switzerland.
A couple of really big individual matchups to flag.
Dortmund’s Marius Wolf was a doubt for this game after missing the weekend defeat to RB Leipzig. But he’s back and straight back into the XI at right back where he will be up against … Mbappé. Wolf being fit means that Niklas Süle can start in his natural position at centre back.
Another key player is Warren Zaïre-Emery, the 17-year-old wonderkid, who makes his first start for PSG in over a month after picking up an injury on his full international debut. He scored of course, but was clattered in the process. Interestingly the man who would normally be marking him in central midfield, Dortmund’s captain Emre Can, is suspended after picking up three yellow cards in the group stage.
Of course, there is Women’s Champions League action as well tonight. Sarah Rendell is helming our MBM liveblog on Lyon v Brann.
Dortmund manager Edin Terzic has been talking to TNT Sports:
Especially at home we need to make our fans happy. We don’t feel relief [at qualifying early]. This is hard work. We want to win the game, we want to top the group. This is really important to us. In our last game we beat the semi-finalists [Milan’]. This is what we are capable of.
Paris has been trying to win the Champions League for many years now. There will be over 80,000 people in here. We can show what we can do.
This is a nice preview from Eric Devin on PSG. Well worth a read before kick-off.
It’s remarkable to see Dortmund where they are in the standings, especially as they started this group with a limp 2-0 defeat at PSG and a disappointing 0-0 draw at homet to Milan. But three consecutive wins means they have qualified from the so-called ‘Group of Death’ with a game to spare!
I referenced this in my preamble, but that’s in stark contrast to their form in Germany. They have lost four of their last six games in league and cup, and won only once. Who knows which Dortmund we will get tonight?
Both Dortmund and PSG have their destinies in their own hands tonight, but PSG’s fate could yet be decided by what happens/doesn’t happen in the other game in this group. You can follow along with Scott Murray here.
The teams!
Borussia Dortmund: Kobel, Wolf, Sule, Hummels, Bensebaini, Brandt, Ozcan, Reus, Bynoe-Gittens, Fullkrug, Adeyemi.
Subs: Schlotterbeck, Reyna, Haller, Sabitzer, Malen, Meyer, Laurenz Lotka, Blank, Bueno.
PSG: Donnarumma, Hakimi, Skriniar, Marquinhos, Hernandez, Lee, Zaire Emery, Vitinha, Barcola, Muani, Kylian Mbappe.
Subs: Ugarte, Asensio, Danilo Pereira, Mukiele, Carlos Soler, Letellier, Tenas.
Preamble
Welcome to the best Champions League group of this year’s competition. Group F, aka this season’s Group of Death, with Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Newcastle and Milan. Four (fairly) evenly matched clubs, who all have something to play for. All four teams can qualify for the last 16, and only Dortmund are guaranteed qualification, currently with 10 points at the top of the group. What a job Edin Terzic has done in Europe, although their Bundesliga form has not been as
We are set for a racuous atmosphere at both the Signal Iduna Park and St James’ Park. This could quite easily be the last time we see Kylian Mbappé in a PSG shirt in the Champions League, the Paris side have lost both their away games and generally don’t travel too well. Dortmund will be keen to top the group and ensure they have a better draw in the last-16. There are so many storylines, each entwined with each other.
Here is how things stand before tonight’s final group game.
Here are tonight’s fixtures and permutations.
Dortmund v PSG
Newcastle v Milan
Dortmund will progress as group winners if they avoid defeat to PSG.
PSG will win the group if they beat Dortmund. Should PSG draw with Dortmund, and Newcastle beat Milan, Newcastle will qualify for the knockout stage in second place behind Dortmund, owing to their superior head-to-head record over PSG.
If Newcastle v Milan ends in a draw, neither team will qualify for the Champions League last-16, but Newcastle will finish third and drop into the Europa League draw. Milan will be out of Europe altogether in that scenario.
Milan can still qualify for the Champions League last 16, but must beat Newcastle and hope Dortmund beat PSG.
Got it? Good. I think that covers everything, although I am beginning to confuse myself now. A good job that the team news will be along shortly.
The chaaaaaammmmpppppions.
Kick-off: 8pm GMT or 9pm in Germany.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
