Key events
15 min: Ryerson powers his way down the right flank. He’s within his rights to go down under severe pressure from Nuno Mendes, but doggedly stays on his feet and makes it into the box, whereupon he loses control. Mbappe then attempts to break upfield with a balletic turn on the left touchline, but runs out of room. Throw. This is already shaping up to be a lot of fun, with both teams totally going for it.
13 min: PSG counter at speed, and Gonçalo Ramos spins on the edge of the D before lashing a first-time effort inches wide of the bottom left. Had that been on target, Kobel may not have got there in time. There’s no way this match is ending 0-0. Then again, the first leg really should have produced at least seven or eight goals, so you can never be 100 percent sure.
12 min: Marquinhos, under pressure from the speedy Adeyemi, fires a backpass towards Donnarumma that nearly foxes the keeper and finds the bottom right. Donnarumma does very well to stick out a leg to divert the ball away from danger. From the resulting throw, Adeyemi takes a shy at goal that’s deflected over for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece.
10 min: This is being played at 101 kilometres for every one of your French hours. The referee letting it flow. “Pleased to see that, judging by his choice of green boots tonight, that Mbappe has finally made a decision on his future – he’s signing for Celtic. Yours delusionally, Stephen McCrossan.”
8 min: Sancho instigates a high-paced one-two down the right with Sabitzer … but doesn’t get the return pass. Had Sabitzer noted his team-mate’s intention, Sancho was away down the flank.
7 min: PSG are getting a lot of joy down the right. It’s Dembele this time, who turns on the jets but can’t quite get clear of Adeyemi. He earns a corner, though. Dortmund don’t really deal with the set piece, and the ball drops towards Mbappe, just inside the box on the left. Mbappe meets it with a sweet volley, but there’s not enough oomph behind it, and that’s easy for Kobel too. The hosts will be very pleased with these early exchanges.
5 min: More room for Hakimi on the right wing. He looks for Gonçalo Ramos in the middle, but shanks his cross towards Kobel at the near post. The keeper gathers. Some positive early moves by the hosts.
4 min: Some space for Hakimi down the right. A low cross is met by Gonçalo Ramos, who hands out a leg and steers a shot straight at Kobel. Not enough power to fox the keeper.
2 min: Sancho takes his first touch of the evening. Whistles for the first leg’s man of the match. The home fans know a dangerman when they see one. Then a free kick to come in from the right. Maatsen curls it in, but it’s easy meat for Donnarumma. Still, that’ll give the visitors some early encouragement.
PSG, a goal behind after the first leg, get the second underway! Blistering noise rings around the Parc des Princes. Here we go, then!
The teams are out! PSG in blue and red, BVB in yellow and black. Music. Ce sont les meilleures équipes! Sie sind die allerbesten Mannschaften! These are the champions! What an atmosphere, with red pyrotechnics filling the spring Parisian sky. We’ll be off once Emre Can takes receipt of that pennant. Don’t look at it too closely, Emre, you’ve got to run about for 90 minutes.
Pennant watch: an update. “PSG have priors,” reports Joe Pearson. “Did similar when they met Sociedad earlier in the campaign.” My goodness, their designer really is earning their corn this season. Very nice as well, though a bit too fussy to be classified as funky. Or psychedelic. Having said that, you wouldn’t want to stare at it too long after a gourd of Mate and 20 B&H.
Pennant watch. This surely has to be the funkiest commemorative pennon in European Cup history. Does it count as psychedelic? Probably not, though you wouldn’t want to stare at it too long after a strong cup of sugary tea and a hand-rolled cigarette.
PSG make two changes to their starting XI after last week’s first leg. Gonçalo Ramos and Lucas Beraldo come in for Bradley Barcola, who drops to the bench, and Lucas Hernandez, who tore his ACL in Dortmund.
Borussia Dortmund are in If It Ain’t Broke mode. They name exactly the same XI that started their victory at the Westfalenstadion. In between times, they’ve beaten Augsburg 5-1 in the Bundesliga; PSG didn’t play last weekend.
The teams
PSG: Donnarumma, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Lucas Beraldo, Nuno Mendes, Zaire Emery, Vitinha, Fabian, Dembele, Goncalo Ramos, Mbappe.
Subs: Navas, Ugarte, Asensio, Danilo Pereira, Lee, Muani, Mukiele, Carlos Soler, Barcola, Skriniar, Zague, Tenas.
Borussia Dortmund: Kobel, Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Maatsen, Sabitzer, Can, Sancho, Brandt, Adeyemi, Fullkrug.
Subs: Ozcan, Nmecha, Haller, Reus, Wolf, Moukoko, Malen, Sule, Meyer, Laurenz Lotka, Watjen, Bynoe-Gittens.
Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy).
Preamble
Last Wednesday this happened …
… and if tonight’s second leg at the Parc des Princes proves to be even half as entertaining, we’ll be lucky people indeed. Will Niclas Füllkrug score another peach? Can Kylian Mbappé and Achraf Hakimi hit the inside of both posts in the space of ten seconds again? Will referee Daniele Orsato (Italy) prove a more competent official than Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)? The answers are maybe, probably not, and yes of course. Kick off in Paris is at 8pm BST, 9pm local. It’s on!
