Kylian Mbappé had 50 touches, three shots on goal, hit the inside of the post and still left empty-handed
players stumbling around in a kind of daze, still trying to process things. Wondering how their combined efforts and errors had resulted in just a single goal. Wondering whether – for all the boldness and brittleness of the men in yellow – this really could be Borussia Dortmund’s year.
But perhaps Dortmund had earned their luck too, after a performance of utter, sweat-drenched conviction, and a maturity that has not always been their hallmark. The reformed, reborn Jadon Sancho was the best player on the pitch by a distance, slaloming and cajoling, roaming right and roaming central. On the other flank Ian Maatsen probably got the better of a fascinating duel with Achraf Hakimi.
But after about half an hour of sketchy defending and half-baked attacking ideas, something seemed to click in the home side. After a succession of safe sideways passes, Sancho finally took on and beat a couple of men on the edge of the area and cut the ball back for Julian Brandt. Though the shot was deflected away, Sancho’s shimmy seemed to fill Dortmund with the spirit of enterprise, remind them of themselves.
In hindsight the break seemed to come at a good time for PSG, who emerged from the dressing room with a little more control and purpose. Early in the second half Mbappé capped a stinging counter-attack with his trademark curler from the corner of the area, clattering off the inside of the post. Seconds later Hakimi had another go and hit the inside of the other post. A few minutes after that Marquinhos put in a wonderfully disguised low cross that Ruiz somehow managed to head wide.
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