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.
Paris Saint-Germain have secured their place in the UEFA Champions League final after a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night, completing a 3-1 aggregate win in the semi-finals.
The French champions, holding a 1-0 lead from the first leg, extended their advantage early in the match when Fabián Ruiz unleashed a powerful strike in the 27th minute, leaving Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya with no chance.
PSG doubled their lead in the 72nd minute, with Achraf Hakimi finishing off a well-orchestrated team move to make it 2-0 on the night.
Arsenal managed to pull one back in the 76th minute through Bukayo Saka, who capitalized on a defensive lapse to slot the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Despite late pressure, the Gunners couldn’t find the equalizer, and PSG held on to advance to the final.
In the other semi-final, Inter Milan triumphed over Barcelona in a thrilling encounter that ended 4-3 after extra time, giving the Italian side a 7-6 aggregate victory.
Davide Frattesi scored the decisive goal in the 99th minute, while goalkeeper Yann Sommer made several crucial saves to preserve the lead.
The Champions League final is set for May 31 at the Allianz Arena in Munich, where PSG will face Inter Milan in a highly anticipated showdown.
Davide Frattesi fired Inter Milan into the Champions League final on Tuesday with an extra-time winner, which gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate.
Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy.
Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, where they will feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after coming out on top in an epic contest.
Tuesday’s triumph saved Inter’s season as their bid for the treble went up in smoke after getting past Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.
Inter conceded top spot in Serie A to Napoli, who are favourites to claim the domestic league title, after getting past Bayern, while AC Milan dumped them out of the Italian Cup a fortnight ago.
But Inter ended Barca’s hopes for the quadruple and now head into the final weeks of the season buoyant with a second Champions League final in three seasons to look forward to.
Frattesi’s winning goal, his seventh of the season and probably the most important of his career, was all the more incredible for the fact that Inter should by rights have already been eliminated.
The hosts were heading out with two minutes remaining of regular time when Raphinha completed a comeback from two goals down at half-time and gave Barca a 3-2 lead on the night.
But Francesco Acerbi stunned everyone in the stadium, not least the already-celebrating Barca supporters, when he forced home Denzel Dumfries’ cross in the second minute of added time.
That goal came as a bolt from the blue as Barca had been by far the better team in the second half of normal time after going in at the break behind to a brilliant Lautaro Martinez goal and Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty in first-half stoppage time.
Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo pulled Barca level with goals in the 54th and 60th minutes, both from sumptuous Gerard Martin deliveries, and Yann Sommer had to be at his best to keep Inter within touching distance.
Sommer made possibly the save of the season between Barca’s first two goals, somehow stopping Eric Garcia from finishing off a lightning Barca counter-attack.
And the Swiss ended up being crucial again in the 113th minute when he pulled off another miraculous save from Lamine Yamal, who hit the post just before Acerbi’s equaliser.
Inter then held off Barca as the home fans held their breath before unleashing a mighty roar at the final whistle of the match of the season.
AFP
By Francesca Hangeior
Brazilian winger Raphinha has revealed that he was on the verge of accepting a call-up to play for the Italian national team before ultimately representing Brazil.
Speaking to journalist Isabela Pagliari and posted on Monday, Raphinha admitted he was close to joining Italy’s Euro 2020-winning squad.
“I was close to accepting the Italian national team call!” he said. “I was supposed to go to the Euro they won in 2020. I was basically set to go. So luckily, since the passport didn’t come through.”
The Barcelona forward explained that he was being actively pursued by the Italian setup at the time.
“At that point, the people from the Italian national team were calling me. Jorginho used to call me all the time. The Italian staff had this amazing project for me, something that really caught my eye,” he added.
Despite the strong interest and the prospect of joining a major European tournament, Raphinha said he held onto a small hope of playing for his country of birth.
“But at the same time, deep down, I still had that one per cent of hope that I could wear the Brazil shirt. And luckily, my Italian passport didn’t get ready in time!” he said.
Raphinha has since gone on to feature for Brazil at the international level, fulfilling the dream he nearly missed out on.
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