As the final whistle blew on this pulsating, perplexing game you could see the Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain players stumbling around in a kind of daze, still trying to process things. Wondering how their combined efforts and errors had resulted in just a single goal. Wondering whether – for all the boldness and brittleness of the men in yellow – this really could be Borussia Dortmund’s year.

Niclas Füllkrug’s first-half goal ultimately settled matters, even if very little felt settled during a subsequent hour during which Gregor Kobel’s goal seemed to be doused in holy water. Kylian Mbappé had 50 touches, three shots on goal, hit the inside of the post and still left empty-handed.

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• Minute-by-minute updates on the action at Signal Iduna Park
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If this first leg of the second semi-final proves to be even half as entertaining as last night’s 2-2 draw between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid , we’ll be doing pretty well. The 1997 champions and the 2020 runners-up get down to business in the Westfalenstadion at 8pm BST . It’s on!

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PSG’s summer signings Ousmane Dembélé and Gonçalo Ramos proved they are clicking at last against Lorient

By Eric Devin for Get French Football News

This was the situation Paris Saint-Germain faced on Wednesday night at the Stade du Moustoir: Luis Enrique sent out a heavily rotated team, the visitors having all but clinched the league title, and they were away to a Lorient side with talented individuals, fighting to stay in the top flight. It sounded like a recipe for dropped points and there is a precedent: PSG closed out the end of last season with a draw to Strasbourg and a loss to Clermont at home. The latter result certainly dampened the title celebrations at the Parc des Princes.

However, the leaders barely blinked, even with Achraf Hakimi, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Marquinhos, Bradley Barcola and Vitinha not travelling to Brittany. A brace each from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé was more than PSG needed to put the hapless Merlus to the sword, 4-1.

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Just when Montjuïc roared, clinging to the hope that there might be a way back into this, one last chance to see Barcelona reach the semi-final for the first time in five years, there was Kylian Mbappé and his Paris Saint-Germain teammates sprinting across the running track in celebration. Two goals down from the first leg, one down in the second, Luis Enrique’s side had come back to lead 3-1 in the second, 5-4 overall, but had been on edge until the very last minute. When, at last, they broke away and silenced the Olympic Stadium.

It had been a long night for them, and even longer for Barcelona. A goal up through Raphinha, they had gone down to ten men because of a red card for Ronald Araújo and been forced to resist for just too long, goals from Ousmane Dembélé, Bradley Barcola and Mbappé giving them a 3-1 lead that they clung to in those late, tense minutes before they finally made it safe, Achraf Hakimi dashing clear to set up three successive shots which ended with Mbappé finally applying the finish.

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• Champions League updates, 8pm BST kick-off ( first leg: 3-2 )
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Since Barcelona won the Champions League in 2015 under Luis Enrique, they’ve been on the wrong end of three second-leg comebacks in Uefa’s flagship competition. A 2-0 defeat at Atlético Madrid in 2016 after a 2-1 home win. A 3-0 capitulation at Roma in 2018 after a 4-1 home win. That four-goal mauling by Liverpool in 2019 after a 3-0 victory at Camp Nou. Would it complete a narrative arc if they somehow threw away a first-leg lead yet again, against a Paris Saint-Germain team now managed by Luis Enrique? Well, no, not really. But it would still be something. Barça are favourites to progress to a semi-final against either Borussia Dortmund or Atlético Madrid having won 3-2 in Paris last week; the French champions require a superstar performance from Kylian Mbappé if they’re to stop Barça gaining revenge for their 5-2 aggregate victory over the Catalans in 2021. Whatever happens, one big team will be crashing out tonight, so with everything on the line this promises to be a cracker. Kick-off at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona is at 8pm BST, 9pm local. It’s on!

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• Germán Burgos sacked by Movistar Plus+
• Barcelona and PSG refused to give interviews

The Spanish TV station Movistar Plus+ has fired the analyst Germán Burgos after Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain refused to give interviews to the network on account of his comment about Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal before Wednesday’s Champions League match.

Movistar Plus+ had earlier apologised to Yamal after Burgos, a former Argentina goalkeeper and assistant manager at Atlético Madrid, said “if [professional football] doesn’t go well for him, he could end up at a traffic light”.

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The knockout stages have finally started to deliver, with standout performances from Phil Foden, Antoine Griezmann and Barcelona’s reluctant fullback

Perhaps the quarter-finals are where the Champions League can be counted to catch light. This week’s first legs saw goals aplenty, with a mix of veteran and young guns starring, with each second leg set up for even more excitement.

Goalkeeper: Jan Oblak, Atlético Madrid

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On a gripping, frantic night at the Parc des Princes, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona produced a game that felt like the opposite of the “Barca DNA” Xavi had spoken about in the build-up to this quarter-final first leg.

Never mind control, patterns and a fight for space. This was an increasingly wild game, building from a mannered start into a second half of sweeping mob-handed attacks, feather-light defending and chances that simply came and went, posts clipped, shots blocked in desperation.

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• Updates from the 8pm BST kick-off at the Parc des Princes
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Here’s the full set-up for both sides.

PSG: Donnarumma, Marquinhos, Hernández, Lucas Beraldo, Mendes, Lee, Vitinha, Ruiz, Dembélé, Asensio, K. Mbappé

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