Sports
Hummels Sends Dortmund Into Champions League Final
Matt Hummels was the hero on the night as his 50th-minute header sent Borussia Dortmund into the Champions League final with a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday, giving the Germans a 2-0 win on aggregate.
Dortmund will face either fellow German side Bayern Munich or 14-time champions Real Madrid in the final at Wembley on June 1.
Hummels struck five minutes into the second half at the Parc des Princes and PSG were unable to muster a response, the home side all out of luck as they hit the woodwork four times in total.
Dortmund, who sit fifth in the German Bundesliga, were never expected to go so far and will be underdogs in the June 1 showpiece regardless of whether they face their old rivals Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, who meet on Wednesday.
It will be their first final since 2013 when, remarkably, the match was also played at Wembley and Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund team lost to Bayern.
Hummels played in that final and here, 11 years later, he was the hero as Dortmund built on the advantage given to them by Niclas Fuellkrug’s goal in the first leg.
The story of this semi-final, however, is just as much about PSG’s failure in another crunch knockout tie in the competition.
They have still never won the trophy despite all the money invested by their Qatari owners since the 2011 takeover, and there will be no dream send-off for Mbappe.
He will leave when his contract expires after this season and had been hoping to play his last game for the club in the June 1 final.
Instead PSG will be left to reflect on how they failed to get their hands on the biggest trophy of all during Mbappe’s seven years at his hometown team.
PSG’s last two semi-final appearances both came during the pandemic, meaning this was the first time they had hosted a match at this stage of a European competition with fans in 29 years, since losing to AC Milan in 1995.
They were favourites to reach their first Champions League final since 2020, despite their defeat in Dortmund six days earlier.
– Woodwork to rescue –
Luis Enrique’s team had won 2-0 at home against the same opponents in the group stage and were safe in the knowledge that a repeat of that performance would be enough.
The PSG coach made one major selection decision, dropping Bradley Barcola and bringing in Portuguese striker Goncalo Ramos. That meant moving Mbappe out of a central position and onto the left wing.
Dortmund would have been bracing themselves for an onslaught from kick-off, but that did not transpire.
Mbappe took only seven minutes to produce his first attempt, yet his volley was easily saved by Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
The hosts had most of the possession but struggled to get Mbappe into the game, with the France captain often looking isolated on the wing.
In fact it was Dortmund who had the best chance of the first half, when Karim Adeyemi led a counterattack before seeing his shot saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
It felt as though the hosts needed to change something or risk going out with a whimper.
They should have been ahead two minutes after the restart, when Ramos touched on a ball driven into the box by Mbappe, but Warren Zaire-Emery somehow contrived to hit the post from close range.
That was to prove crucial as Dortmund struck moments later.
PSG cheaply conceded a corner, and Julian Brandt’s resulting delivery from the Dortmund right was headed in by Hummels.
Ramos swept a shot over from a Vitinha pass on the hour mark before Nuno Mendes became the second PSG player to strike the right-hand post, this time with a powerful shot from outside the box.
It was starting to look as if it would really not be PSG’s night, and Luis Enrique realised he had to act as he sent on Barcola and Marco Asensio for Ramos and Fabian Ruiz, moving Mbappe through the middle.
Dortmund responded by withdrawing Jadon Sancho and sending on an extra defender in the hulking Niklas Suele.
They withstood everything PSG threw at them but were also helped by the frame of the goal, with Kobel turning Mbappe’s shot onto the bar on 86 minutes and Vitinha then rattling the bar too.
Mikel Arteta had asked the Arsenal fans to arrive early to create an impressive atmosphere inside the stadium, and the team responded by starting the game quickly with a number of dangerous crosses into the Madrid penalty area.
It took until the 20th minute for Madrid to have their first real chance, when Vinicius Jr curled an effort wide.
But Rice took control of the tie for Arsenal in the second half.
Declan Rice stunned Real Madrid with two brilliant free kicks – the first scored in his career – as Arsenal took a commanding 3-0 first leg lead in their Champions League quarter-final.
The Gunners were the better side all evening and took the lead in the 58th minute, when Rice curled the first of two excellent free-kicks round the Real Madrid wall into the corner of the net past Thibaut Courtois.
Rice scored his second of the night with a free-kick of equal quality 12 minutes later, bending another long-range effort into the top right-hand corner to leave Madrid stunned.
Mikel Merino then made sure it was a memorable night for Arsenal when he curled a shot into the bottom corner from inside the area just five minutes later.
Things only got worse for Madrid when Eduardo Camavinga was sent off in stoppage time for picking up a second yellow card.
Arsenal have not reached the semi-finals stage of the Champions League since the 2008-09 season, but they have given themselves a huge chance of progressing to the last four with this result. [BBC]
Spanish giants Real Madrid are reportedly keeping tabs on Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen as they consider potential additions ahead of the summer transfer window.
The 26-year-old forward, currently enjoying a prolific loan spell at Galatasaray, has been in fine form this season, notching 28 goals and providing five assists in 32 matches across all competitions.
Although Osimhen remains under contract with Serie A side Napoli, his future appears uncertain, and a permanent departure from the Italian club is expected in the coming months.
While Manchester United have long been linked with the Super Eagles star, Spanish outlet Fichajes claims that Real Madrid are now exploring the option of bringing him to the Bernabéu. The club reportedly views him as a possible replacement should Vinicius Junior make a surprise move to Saudi Arabia, where he continues to attract interest.
Osimhen joined Napoli from Lille in 2020 and has since established himself as one of Europe’s top attacking talents, scoring 76 goals and assisting 12 times in 133 games for the Italian side. His blend of pace, power, and finishing ability has earned him admiration across top European leagues.
Real Madrid’s potential bid adds to growing interest from Premier League clubs and teams in Saudi Arabia, as Osimhen’s release clause — reportedly set at €75 million — puts his signature well within reach for Europe’s elite.
As the summer window approaches, the race to land the Nigerian marksman is expected to intensify.
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League in record-setting time after a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham on Sunday ended their brief stay in the top-flight.
Brennan Johnson struck twice in the first half and Mateus Fernandes’s late reply was too late to stop bottom of the table Southampton crashing back to the Championship.
Beaten for the 25th time in 31 games, Southampton are the first Premier League team to be relegated with seven matches still to play.
Ipswich and Derby were relegated with six games left in 1994-95 and 2007-08, respectively.
Ivan Juric’s side are also still one shy of matching Derby’s 2007-08 record low Premier League total points of 11.
Juric, whose team are without a win in their last seven league matches, admitted this week that avoiding the record low points tally is Southampton’s only target for the rest of their dismal season.
Southampton were pushed to the brink of relegation when fourth-bottom Wolves came from behind to beat Ipswich 2-1 on Saturday, leaving Saints 22 points from safety.
Their slide down to the second tier was confirmed 315 days after they clinched promotion by beating Leeds in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.
Russell Martin was architect of Southampton’s success in the Championship with an attacking approach, but his insistence on sticking to those tactics backfired badly in the top flight.
Martin was sacked in December after a 5-0 defeat against Tottenham left Southampton bottom of the table with just five points from 16 games.
Former Roma boss Juric was hired to replace Martin on an 18-month contract, but the Croatian was unable to save Southampton from going down with a whimper.
– No reprieve –
Tottenham have been in turmoil themselves for much of the season, with fan protests against chairman Daniel Ley before and during the game underlining the depth of the problems in north London.
But under-fire boss Ange Postecoglou, who was jeered by Tottenham fans during Thursday’s defeat at Chelsea, earned a little breathing space at Southampton’s expense.
Trying to avoid their lowest finish since 1993-94 — when they came 15th — Tottenham’s first win in five league games lifted them to 13th place.
It was a much-needed boost before their Europa League quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday.
Postecoglou’s men took the lead in the 13th minute when Johnson fired into the roof of the net from Djed Spence’s cut-back for his 15th goal in all competitions this season.
That spelt doom for Southampton, who haven’t won a single league game this season after conceding the opening goal.
Lucas Bergvall’s close-range finish was disallowed for offside after the kind of protracted VAR check that has driven Postecoglou to claim the system is “killing the game”.
It was only a temporary reprieve as Wales forward Johnson doubled Tottenham’s advantage with a composed finish from James Maddison’s header in the 42nd minute.
Despite their team’s predicament, Southampton fans packed into one corner of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium hadn’t lost their sense of humour, chanting “Que sera, sera… we’re going to Coventry” as the clock ticked down on their stay in the top tier.
In a moment of quality at odds with their woeful campaign, Fernandes chested down and fired past Tottenham keeper Guglielmo Vicario in the 90th minute.
There was no late comeback as Wellington fouled Johnson and Mathys Tel converted the penalty to confirm Southampton’s demise.
AFP
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