Dortmund knocks out Mbappé and PSG and advances to the Champions League final

Paris. The trip to London, with which Kylian Mbappé would say goodbye to his team, was cancelled.

A header from central defender Mats Hummels catapulted Borussia Dortmund into the Champions League final on Tuesday, as the German club emerged victorious 1-0 from its visit to Paris Saint-Germain.

Moments after Warren Zaïre-Emery missed a goal called for PSG, Hummels rose undisturbed to comb Julian Brandt’s corner kick in the 50th minute.

Dortmund, which is fifth in the Bundesliga, won 1-0 in both games of the tie after neutralizing Mbappé, the PSG attacker who will leave the French champion at the end of the season.

Mbappé had left the field several minutes before the Dortmund players ran towards the area where their fans were. They wore yellow T-shirts that said: “London 24.”

The last minutes were a total but fruitless siege by Spanish coach Luis Enrique’s team.

Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel repelled a low shot from Mbappé and then parried another point-blank shot from the French star. The fans at the Parc des Princes reacted in disbelief when a shot from 25 meters by midfielder Vitinha shook the wood.

“It’s a sad moment, especially when you lose like this,” Luis Enrique said. “We scored six goals in the tie, today we took 31 shots on goal.”

In the final, those led by Edin Terzić could face Real Madrid — the team that owns the record with its 14 European Cup titles — or Bayern Munich — its classic rival in Germany that has six consecrations of the top continental tournament — on June 1 at Wembley Stadium. Those two giants tied 2-2 in the first leg and will meet on Tuesday in Madrid.

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“I am extremely proud and happy,” said Terzić. “We beat a team like PSG twice, and again we didn’t concede a goal. We started very well and kept them away from our goal.”

Dortmund are trying to lift their second Champions League trophy after winning in 1997. They also reached the 2013 final, precisely at Wembley, succumbing 2-1 to Bayern.

“We are going to Wembley. It’s crazy,” said Marco Reus, the iconic Dortmund midfielder who days ago announced that he will leave the club at the end of the season and after completing 12 years with it. “We return, more than 10 years later. We have to make it happen. Is our moment”.

For PSG, it is another season without the cup that its Qatari owners most covet despite the excessive spending on football luminaries such as Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar and Mbappé. PSG lost in their only Champions League final in 2020 at the hands of Bayern.

“We had the chances, but Dortmund were very effective. They have known how to defend themselves very well,” lamented Marquinhos, the Brazilian defender and captain of PSG.

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While the Dortmund players packed to celebrate near the area of ​​the stadium where the visiting fans were, Mbappé was left crestfallen as he retired from what was his last Champions League game in the PSG jersey. It is taken for granted that he will sign with Real Madrid.

Mbappé was ineffective in the first leg and did not gravitate in the early stages of the second match.

Despite their vertigo, Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé lacked the ingenuity to break through Dortmund’s orderly defensive wall, with midfielder Emre Can providing an extra dose of muscle.