Mats Hummels headed in the only goal as Borussia Dortmund stunned Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) 1-0 in their Uefa Champions League semi-final second leg on Tuesday night to reach their first final since 2013.
Dortmund held a 1-0 advantage following the first leg of the semi-final and doubled their lead when Mats Hummels was left unmarked five yards out to head in from Julian Brandt’s left-wing corner.
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.
PSG hit the upright twice in the opening match in Germany and, after falling 2-0 behind on aggregate, again struck the post through Nuno Mendes.
The hosts thought they had been given a penalty and a potential lifeline when Italian referee Daniele Orsato pointed to the spot, only to instantly change his mind and rule that Hummels’ foul on Ousmane Dembele had been just outside the area.
PSG have never been European champions, losing in the 2020 final, and Dortmund produced an excellent defensive display to frustrate the French title winners.
Kylian Mbappe, in his last European match for PSG before joining Real Madrid in the summer, had an effort deflected to the crossbar, before Vitinha fired against the bar too.
The final will be at Wembley on Saturday, 1 June and could be an all-German affair, just as it was in May 2013 when Bayern Munich beat Dortmund 2-1 in London.
Bayern and Real are in the second 2024 semi-final and the first leg ended 2-2 in Germany, with the second leg in Spain on Wednesday.
Dortmund are aiming to become European champions for the second time in their history after they defeated Juventus 3-1 in the 1997 final.
