Nobody ever said it was going to be easy in the semi-finals of the Champions League
Luis Enrique
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique was hopeful his side would still reach the Champions League final despite a 1-0 defeat away to Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their last-four tie on Wednesday.
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“It’s football. Very often it is marvellous and other times it is like this. We would have preferred to be in a different situation, but I think when you look at it was a very even game,” the Spaniard told broadcaster Canal Plus after his side were undone by a solitary Niclas Fuellkrug goal in the first half. The French champions had more possession and more attempts on goal but were hindered by wayward finishing and perhaps a lack of luck—Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi hit separate posts in the same move at one point in the second half.
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“Nobody ever said it was going to be easy in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The boys in the dressing room are a bit down. We had one chance where we hit both posts. You have to say this is an exceptional stadium, but I am sure we will be very strong in Paris and we have nothing to lose,” Luis Enrique added. It is just the fifth game PSG have lost all season, and the first time they have been beaten under Luis Enrique without scoring.
However, they can take heart from the fact they have already defeated Dortmund at home in the current campaign, winning 2-0 at the Parc des Princes when the teams met there in the group stage in September. They also overturned a 3-2 first-leg deficit to knock out Barcelona in the quarter-finals by winning 4-1 in the return. Going further back, PSG knocked the German club out of the Champions League in the last 16 in 2020 with a 2-0 win at home after going down 2-1 away in the first leg.
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