what is Borussia Dortmund, PSG’s opponent in the semi-finals, worth?

The German team may well be the outsider in the last four, but it has several arguments to compete with the capital club on Wednesday.

For Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund in the knockout phase of the Champions League is a good memory. In 2020, the capital club overthrew it in the round of 16 in an empty Parc des Princes, just before the forced interruption of the championships due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This qualification obtained after losing the first leg (the first under QSI) opened the doors to the Final 8 in Lisbon for the Parisians, where they reached the first C1 final in their history (lost 1-0 against Bayern Munich).

This year, PSG has already played two matches against BvB without a defeat (a 2-0 victory at home, a 1-1 draw in Germany) and a qualification at the end of the group stage. But since then, five months have passed. Paris is no longer in the running-in phase, but Dortmund has also changed. Franceinfo: sport analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the team which stands between the capital club and the Champions League final.

The least feared opponent in the final four…

Borussia Dortmund are, according to the bookmakers, the least likely winners of the last four teams competing in the competition. He was already there before the round of 16. Edin Terzic, the coach of the Yellow and Black, refused to name the favorite but his comments at the pre-match press conference gave a clear trend: “If we had to play 44 matches against Paris-SG, it would be difficult for us, but there are only two matches, 180 minutes.” An outsider’s speech, obviously.

His BvB, which is playing its first semi-finals since 2013, was not expected this far in the competition. Despite its good performance, it is not even the most brilliant German team of the season. The invincibles of Bayer Leverkusen, unbeaten for 46 games and already German champions, have taken all the spotlight this season, and rightly so. We must also not forget that Bayern Munich, despite its dismissal on the national scene, is also two games away from a new C1 final.

Since the start of their campaign, Dortmund has not been one of the best teams offensively and defensively. If we are to believe the Expected Goals, this statistic which calculates the number of goals that a team should have scored or conceded depending on the dangerousness of the shots, Borussia is not even one of the 20 best teams in this League of Nations. champions. He is 22nd in xG created (1.27 per match) and 21st in xG suffered (1.77 per match), while not being the type to control the ball (only 47.5% average possession).

… who has however progressed since the group stage

“Perhaps we are the team with the least experience at this level of the competition, but also the one with the hungriest”. Edin Terzic warned PSG 24 hours before kick-off. Its formation is definitely no longer the same as during the defeat suffered with great passivity at the Parc des Princes in September (0-2). She had already shown great progress during the second clash in December, dominating in her stadium and holding the draw (1-1).

Borussia Dortmund took advantage of the winter transfer window to repatriate Jadon Sancho, one of the many prodigies that the club was determined to lose quickly, along with Ousmane Dembélé, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham. The English winger brought technical quality and offensive impact. His complicity with Ian Maatsen made the left wing the strong side of this team which knows how to press and project itself quickly forward.

She did not break through the defense of Atlético de Madrid (1-2 then 4-2) by chance. Terzic’s team is also one of the rare teams to have come close to bringing down Bayer Leverkusen this season (1-1 on two occasions with an equalizer conceded at the end of the match each time). In the very big meetings of 2024, she has always been present. Dortmund, for example, beat Bayern Munich at home (2-0), ending a series of eight defeats in a row at the Allianz Arena.

Frames in far from optimal condition

Who will be missing? This was the big question at the start of the week in the Ruhr. The worry dissipated very quickly. On Monday the five potential starters, Sébastien Haller (ankle), Donyell Malen (thigh), Ian Maatsen (muscle problem), Marcel Sabitzer (flu) and Mats Hummels (shin) were present in training. “We assume they will be available tomorrow.”announced Edin Terzic on the eve of the match, without giving any guarantee that they would all be able to start the match.

At 35, Mats Hummels is the boss of the BvB defense, with whom he has made 504 appearances since the start of his career. Ian Maatsen is the revelation of the season for Borussia. The left back on loan from Chelsea is the energetic and explosive type. His absence would be just as detrimental as that of midfielder Marcel Sabitzer, particularly sparkling in the quarter-finals against Atlético de Madrid. As for the attackers Donyell Malen and Sébastien Haller, the first is the second top scorer for his team this season (13 goals), while the Ivorian is more of an option off the bench.