Borussia Dortmund 1-0 PSG – Champions League: Niclas Fullkrug puts German side in front after a sublime first touch and fine finish – in a strong start by hosts in semi-final first leg

Sadly, Anthony Taylor blows for half-time.

We have four minutes added on in this one,

The match is in full flow now, I wouldn’t be surprised if something major happens in these four minutes.

That is a huge save by Gianluigi Donnarumma!

Marcel Sabitzer blasts a thunderous volley toward goal after a lovely flick by the goalscorer Niclas Fullkrug, and Donnarumma manages to beat it away.

The PSG keeper does well, but Sabitzer has to score there, it’s straight at him.

Dortmund are flying now.

Lucas Hernandez has gone down and his night is over.

It seems he picked up an injury while chasing Niclas Fullkrug for the goal. Not ideal. He is being replaced by another Lucas… Lucas Beraldo.

It’s not been a good few minutes for PSG.

That goal has somehow made this place even louder than before.

The game needed something to happen, and bo oh boy was that something from Niclas Fullkrug,

Signal Iduna Park is enjoying itself now!

What a goal that is!

Dortmund have taken the lead out of nowhere and Signal Iduna Park goes bananas.

It’s an excellent goal from Niclas Fullkrug who takes down Nico Schlotterbeck’s long ball over the top expertly before firing the ball low and hard past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

That is a top-tier strike from Dortmund’s number 14.

Bradley Barcola has started brightly for PSG.

He somehow gets his long legs high enough to bring down Kylian Mbappe’s floating cross.

He then drives past a Dortmund defender and fires in a lovely low cross, but no one is there to meet it.

Lovely play from the young attacker.

Oooof, that one has got to hurt.

Jadon Sancho looks like a completely different player, his old self. He jinks past several players before setting up Julian Brandt.

The German attacker decides to go for it and hist a venomous effort which smashes straight into Marquinhos and knocks him over.

That surely hurt the defender, but he got straight back up.

PSG are certainly on top now.

What it has done is quieten the home fans considerably, which means you can now clearly hear the PSG supporters having a good time.

Dortmund need to get a foot on the ball, they are starting to struggle.

Oh, that was nearly the moment!

Kylian Mbappe looks like he is in, but his touch is heavy inside the area and it bounces straight into the gloves of Gregor Kobel.

If he got his touch right, there is no doubt in my mind that it would have been 1-0.

Anthony Taylor has brought the yellow card out for the first time tonight.

Ian Maatsen mistimes a tackle on Warren Zaire-Emery and Taylor instantly gets out the book.

The resulting set-piece causes some chaos but is cleared.

Ousmane Dembele is desperate for a goal against his old club!

The PSG winger can’t see many options around him so just decides to go for goal from outside the area.

However, his bending effort isn’t the best, it goes wide of the mark.

That’s the best chance so far!

It falls to Marcel Sabitzer who races in behind, but his strike from a tight angle is smothered well by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

This game is starting to open up!

PSG are starting to put the pressure on.

They press Dortmund like a wolfpack high up the pitch and it causes Emre Can to neatly pass the ball out for a corner, but Kobel manages to get it away for a corner.

Nervy moments there.

We have had our first shot of the night!

It’s from the boot of Ousmane Dembele, the former Dortmund man is oozing confidence right now.

The visitors pass the ball around for what feels like an age as they patiently try to pry Dortmund open and at the end of it all Dembele drills a shot low and well wide of the post.

Wasn’t the best of strikes, but it was a nice move.

Craig Hope, Mail Sport, at Signal Iduna Park:

PSG’s players are finding they cannot run anywhere without company, either. Dortmund are swarming all over them. Lively start.

Jadon Sancho has had his first forway forward.

Julian Ryerson seems to have acres of space as he drives up the pitch, he decides to feed Sanbcho hose cross is cleared.

Dortmund have made their intentions clear, they aren’t going to sit back.

Every time a PSG player gets on the ball the home crowd jeers.

It must be so hard to concentrate in this cauldron of noise. Thus far, there is not much else to report on.

I’m just in awe of the atmosphere… if you couldn’t tell.

The yellow wall is really in full flow.

The teams arise from the tunnel and the PSG players will surely be finding the stadium a little intimidating right now.

The atmosphere is spine-tingling out there and now it’s time for the Champions League anthem.

It’s going to be a special night!

Marcel Sabitzer put on the performance of his life in the quarter-finals against Atletico.

It was his goal that decided the tie in the end and is the reason Dortmund are here tonight. It was a stunning goal.

Can he muster up another magical display this evening?

Rio Ferdinand, 2008 Champions League winner, on TNT Sports:

You need to have a togetherness (to win the competition). I think there’s always talent in these teams. There’s talent everywhere. But it’s the togetherness, it’s the desire, it’s the obsession every day to improve yourself, to win, and to have good characters in there. You need good people, and good characters, especially in times during a season where the confidence could drop off, and results might not go the way you want them. You need the good personalizing characters to make sure they keep hold of that dressing room. It’s not just a manager who does that. There are lieutenants all around that place. Really gather the squad, the troops, to make sure you can get over the line.

We knew the atmosphere would be good, but it is already incredibly loud.

The PSG side has just come out to warm-up and boos instantly ring around the stadium, with whistle among them.

If PSG are going to win tonight, they are going to have to put up with hostility from the home crowd.

Can they handle it?

Craig Hope, Mail Sport, at Signal Iduna Park:

These big Champions League nights always mean a press box full of stars, and I don’t mean us reporters. Here is my 5-a-side team from the faces here; Peter Schmeichel, Clarence Seedorf, Michael Ballack, Emmanuel Petit, and Miroslav Klose.

Yes, Kylian Mbappe is a special player, but it won’t be easy for his PSG side to come away with a win tonight.

Borussia Dortmund are tough to beat on the best of days, especially when they are playing at home in the Champions League.

They are unbeaten in their last 10 Champions League home games. winning six, their longest-ever such run in the competition.

Can they extend that run this evening?

Rio Ferdinand, 2008 Champions League winner, on TNT Sports:

Yes (I think PSG are favourites), it’s the Kylian Mbappe effect. Some people have just been blessed by somebody above, the fortune just comes your way at great times in your career. It just seems like he has been the chosen one.

They (PSG) have got a tough game tonight, Dortmund are a good team, they won’t make it easy. But this somebody who has done it at the top level, he scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final – didn’t win it – but he knows how to perform in the clutch moments.

We all know that it’s more than likely Kylian Mbappe will leave PSG in the summer.

It would be a perfect parting gift if he were to lift the Champions League trophy in his final game for the club.

Do you think he will do it though?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

The Champions League trophy is just stunning, isn’t it?

‘Big Ears’ has made the journey up from Munich and is glistening on the turf of Signal Iduna Park.

Surely seeing the trophy on the pitch is sure to motivate the players, they will be hoping they have their hands on it come the end of the season.

Are any of us surprised?

Luis Enrique has decided to stick with the starting 11 that beat Barcelona 4-1 in the quarter-final second leg.

Bradley Barcola starts up top, with, of course, Kylian Mbappe and former Dortmund winger Ousmane Dembele, beside him.

That team could do some serious damage.

Just look at that, it’s incredible.

The ‘Yellow Wall’ is already in position at Signal Iduna Park, they know how big tonight is for the football club.

The fact they are already inside the ground tells you that the atmosphere tonight could reach deafening levels.

They are ready… are you?

Jadon Sancho starts for Borussia Dortmund for arguably their biggest match in 11 years.

BVB make three changes from their heavy 4-1 defeat to RB Leipzig at the weekend.

Emre Can, Ian Maatsen and Marcel Sabitzer all return to the fray.

Jadon Sancho has refound the form that led him to leave Borussia Dortmund for Manchester United since his return to the club on loan.

It is clear that he is adored by the BVB faithful, and he also certainly loves playing for them.

Mail Sport has been asking fans outside Signal Iduna Park whether they would like Sancho to make his load permanent.

The answer is very clear, watch for yourselves.

Wow, the crowd outside of the stadium is never-ending.

It really is like a blanket of yellow shirts has been laid down all around Signal Iduna Park.

It is extremely impressive. The excitement must be rushing through all of them right now.

It’s a huge night.

It feels like just yesterday that Kylian Mbappe burst onto the scene in the Champions League as an 18-year-old at Monaco.

Well, the French superstar is now just two goals away from hitting 50 goals in the Champions League. Time really does fly.

This season has been his joint-best in the competition in terms of goals, he has scored eight so far which equals his tally in the 2020-21 campaign.

He has scored a brace in each of his last two Champions League away games, if he does that tonight, he will become just the ninth player to hit a half-century of goals in the competition history.

If he wants that fairytale ending with PSG, he will have to be on top form tonight.

Mail Sport’s Craig Hope, is in Dortmund for tonight’s game.

Just take a look at some of the footage he has managed to grab of the PSG supporters approaching the stadium.

Incredible stuff, the close-up videos only enhance my excitement from seeing the club’s post.

Luis Enrique, PSG boss, speaking on Tuesday:

I think going out would be a disappointment for any of the four teams left in the semi-finals. It’s not any different for us! PSG immense favourites? It’s proof that the press knows nothing about football (laughs). It’s nice to be able to enjoy a special match, in a unique atmosphere, to try and arrive in the final.

I think this tie will be similar to the quarter-finals. We’re not a cagey team, Dortmund is the same. We are going to try and win this match with our football. I think it will be spectacular, there will definitely be goals given the ability of both teams to create chances. We are improving, we are at the start of our project. There is one month left of the season and we are still in all competitions. We will have to manage these emotions, handle the pressure, and be ambitious. We can’t start to see the pressure as a threat.

Edin Terzic, Borussia Dortmund boss, speaking on Tuesday:

The project in Paris began with the goal of winning the Champions League. That’s been their main objective for a decade. Maybe we’re the team with less experience, but we may have the greatest hunger.

When everyone digs in, not just those on the field and on the bench but everyone in the stadium, we’ve got a huge opportunity – and we need to take it.

Wow, the PSG fans mean business tonight.

The Parisians are always a loud bunch and usually bring the atmosphere everywhere they go.

Pair that with the noise from the yellow wall, and it could be a loud one tonight at Signal Iduna Park.

The prospect is exciting me.

When people think of PSG they mainly think of their shortcomings and not their successes.

The Parisians have always had a side full of superstars, many of the biggest names in football such as Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr have adorned the colours of the French club.

However, despite all the star power they have possessed over the last decade or so, the one thing they have been desperate to win has evaded them. That’s right, the Champions League trophy.

They came close four years ago, making it to the final before an agonising 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich in an empty Estádio da Luz in Lisbon. A real low point for the club.

The Parisians have had so many near misses, but it has never truly felt like they would make the step to get their hands on good old ‘big ears’. That feeling has changed this year.

This side seems different. They are not just Kylian Mbappe and friends, the team work for each other and work for the badge.

Win tonight, and they are one step closer to their dream.

I simply had to bring up last night, it was a sensational match.

Bayern Munich and Real Madrid never disappoint, and once again, they provided us with another action-packed night of European football.

It was 90 minutes that swung one way and then the other. Real Madrid hit Bayern Munich with a first-half sucker punch through Vinicius Jr and at half-time were in the ascendancy.

However, that changed fairly quickly when the hosts turned the game on its head within 12 minutes of the second half after Leroy Sane and Harry Kane both found the back of the net.

The Bavarians should have killed the 14-time winners off, but they didn’t, and of course, Madrid had to have the final say.

Vinicius Jr netted from the spot with seven minutes left to play to make sure there is nothing to separate the two sides leading into next week. You’d have to say that it is advantage Real Madrid now.

If tonight is anything like what we saw at the Allianz Arena, we are in for a treat.

Right then, I think we should take a look at how both sides got to the semi-final stage.

As we know, both sides came through group F, which contained AC Milan and Newcastle United. Dortmund topped the group with 11 points while PSG finished second with eight. Now let’s take a closer look at their knockout stage results (we will display the aggregate scores):

• Round of 16: BORUSSIA DORTMUND 3-1 PSV & Real Sociedad 1-4 PSG
• Quarter-final: BORUSSIA DORTMUND 5-4 Atletico Madrid & Barcelona 4-6 PSG

These two both served us up cracking ties in the quarter-finals, both making comebacks from first-leg deficits to edge out high-scoring thrillers.

If they provide us with another belter, we will all be smiling.

Something feels a little bit familiar about this fixture…

Oh yes, I know why, because they have already faced each other twice in the Champions League campaign.

Both Borussia Dortmund and PSG were drawn into group F, which was seen as the ‘group of death’ at the time. They just about made it out alive.

They faced each other in the first and last game weeks of the group stage, with PSG coming out on top 2-0 at the Parc des Princes on matchday one, while it finished one goal apiece at Signal Iduna Park in the reverse fixture.

However, that was then and this is the now. PSG, in particular, feel like a different prospect from earlier in the campaign. I doubt the matches earlier in the season are anything to go by.

It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, and they will both be feeling good (I’m sorry).

As Abba sing in ‘Mamma Mia’, here we go again…

I’ve only just about recovered from last night’s thriller and now it’s time to do it all over again. I’m certainly not complaining.

We are staying in Germany this evening after last night’s exploits in Munich as Borussia Dortmund play host to PSG at Signal Iduna Park.

Last night is certainly a tough act to follow from an enjoyment perspective, but these two sides certainly know how to entertain the fans. The Champions League always delivers.

Right then, are you ready? Cause I am. Let’s get this show on the road.