Kylian Mbappe and PSG aim to seize every moment in Champions League semi-finals. football news

Paris Saint-Germain is seeking to overturn a 1-0 first-leg defeat and defeat Borussia Dortmund in its Champions League semi-final return match on Tuesday, aiming to bring the curtain down on the Kylian Mbappe era at the club. The final at Wembley. PSG had previously appeared in club football’s biggest match only once before, but it proved a disappointing occasion when the French side lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich behind closed doors in Lisbon at the height of the pandemic in 2020 .

Reaching the showpiece in London on June 1, and playing again in front of a crowd of 90,000 against Real Madrid or Bayern, will be a different occasion altogether.

Getting there would give Mbappé the chance to end his seven-year stay with the Qatar-owned outfit in the best possible way, as they attempt to win the Champions League for the first time in their history, and just the second for a Frenchman. Club for the second time after Marseille in 1993.

Mbappé informed PSG in February of his intention to leave the Parc des Princes when his contract expired at the end of the season, ending a prolific spell with his hometown team after signing from Monaco in 2017. Had started.

Now 25 and the France captain, Mbappe has so far become the Parisians’ all-time top scorer with 255 goals in 305 matches, including 43 goals this season alone.

He has 48 in the Champions League – a tally that includes six with Monaco in his successful 2016/17 campaign – and Tuesday’s second leg against Dortmund would be the ideal time for him to get to half a century.

Luis Enrique’s side did not perform at their best when they lost 1-0 in Germany last week and as favorites they are under pressure to turn the tie on home soil.

However, it would be enough to repeat what happened when they hosted Dortmund in the group stage last September – on that occasion they won 2-0, with Mbappe scoring the first goal from the penalty spot.

“We are confident that we will turn it around and qualify for the final,” Mbappe told media, including AFP, on Sunday at an event on the French capital’s famous Champs-Elysees.

“There is a lot of pressure on us, which is normal because a place in the Champions League final is at stake.

“Even more so when you know about this club’s past in the competition.”

defensive dilemma

PSG were not expected to reach the semi-finals this season, as there were major changes to the squad following the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar at the end of the previous campaign.

They had been eliminated in the last 16 in five of the last seven seasons, and in that time they had consistently failed spectacularly.

Prior to this season, and since Qatar’s takeover of the club in 2011, PSG had won a total of nine Champions League knockout ties.

Five of those came behind closed doors in the Covid era, including two played as one-off games on neutral ground in Lisbon in 2020.

This season’s draw was as good as it could be, with Real Sociedad ideal opponents in the last 16 and Dortmund the best they could hope for in the semi-finals.

However, their performance in overcoming the first leg defeat to defeat Barcelona in the last eight cannot be dismissed.

While all eyes will, as always, be on Mbappe when PSG face Dortmund, the key to their chances of overcoming another first-leg defeat could lie in defence.

They suffered a huge blow when Lucas Hernandez ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while trying to stop Nicklas Feulkrug’s goal at Dortmund. He is certain to be out for several months.

Furthermore, left-back Nuno Mendes, who himself has not returned after a long-term absence, had a tough time against Jadon Sancho at Signal Iduna Park.

Mendes will still almost certainly start at the Parc des Princes, while Danilo Pereira looks the most likely option to partner captain Marquinhos at centre-back.

“We know how strong we are on the park. Nothing is finished, everything is open,” Marquinhos said after the first leg.

Another factor in PSG’s favour, having already won the French title, could be freshness – their weekend league game at Nice was postponed to help them prepare.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)