Not many people would have guessed Jadon Sancho would be Dortmund’s key defender to stifle Kylian Mbappe.
The England winger doubled up with right-back Julian Ryerson to stop PSG’s dynamic No. 7. It ended up being a brilliant defensive display that left Sancho with seven ball recoveries, with six possessions won in the defensive and middle thirds. Mbappe, meanwhile, had just five shots.
Sancho also ended up with a forward passing percentage of 63.64 percent – the highest on the pitch. When Dortmund needed to get up the pitch and relieve pressure on the backline, Sancho was their calm and effective figure.
This is a player with 48 Champions League goals. He has scored the most goals in the World Cup finals. He’s up there with the world-renowned best.
None of that was on show against Dortmund. The German side schooled him. Across 180 minutes of football, Mbappe was rendered virtually anonymous. Simply marked out of the game.
Credit must be given to Dortmund’s dynamic defensive pairing – Mats Hummels and Nico Schlotterbeck – but questions must also be asked of the PSG No 7, who is leaving the Parc des Princes at the end of this season without so much as a sniff of the Champions League title his club so badly crave – and the silverware he was meant to hand deliver.
Subdued and indecisive, as well as wasteful, Mbappe lost possession 18 times on Tuesday night. Of the 12 touches he had in the opposition box, three ended in shots on target, but none troubled Gregor Kobel.
“Football is so unfair,” manager Luis Enrique moaned post-match. Often that’s true. But not here. PSG’s stars were off colour while the entire Dortmund contingent showed how rewarding a cohesive game plan – carried out with unwavering commitment – can be.
They say you earn your luck. Well, Dortmund’s defenders certainly did at PSG.
Luis Enrique pointed towards PSG striking the woodwork six times over the course of the two legs as to why they deserved to go to the Wembley final at Dortmund’s expense. But Dortmund’s backline did not deserve to lose either.
The back four of Julian Ryerson, Mats Hummels, Nico Schlotterbeck and Ian Maatsen – the latter formerly of Burnley and Coventry – made 36 clearances combined at the Parc des Princes, 12 of them with their head, and won 24 duels. They will all sleep well tonight, if they can amid the celebrations.
Dortmund will now bring the Yellow Wall to Wembley, but there will be a second, smaller wall in front of the goal. Whoever lines up in attack against them in the Champions League final will not want to come up against this quartet.
