DORTMUND – Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic said semi-final opponents Paris Saint-Germain were “built to win the Champions League”, ahead of the first leg on May 1.
Terzic said on April 30 that lifting the Champions League trophy has been the “main objective” of PSG since being taken over by Qatar Sports Investments.
“The project in Paris began with the goal of winning the Champions League,” Terzic said. “That’s been their main objective for a decade.”
PSG were crowned Ligue 1 champions on April 28, their 10th league title in the past 12 seasons.
The domestic dominance has, however, not translated into European silverware. PSG lost the final in 2020 to Bayern Munich.
Dortmund, who won the competition in 1997, are playing in their fifth semi-finals and the first time since 2013, when they also lost to Bayern in the final.
When analysts Deloitte published their list of the top-earning football clubs in the world for 2023, PSG were third with revenue of just over €800 million (S$1.17 billion). The only other French team in the top 20 were Marseille, with €258 million.
Uefa’s own European Club Finance and Investment Landscape report, published in February, revealed PSG as having the second-highest wage bill behind only Barcelona, at over €600 million.
Terzic singled out Kylian Mbappe for particular praise, but said PSG posed an attacking threat across the park.
“It’s the question you hear the most: ‘How do you stop Kylian Mbappe?’ But if you focus only on Kylian Mbappe, then comes Ousmane Dembele or (Goncalo) Ramos, or Vitinha, or (Achraf) Hakimi, or (Randal) Kolo Muani and all the others,” he said.
“They have unbelievable quality.
“If we want to focus on one thing, then we need to focus on the ball. If we worry about the ball – there’s just one – then it’s much harder for them to score.”
However, midfielder Emre Can suggested Dortmund would double mark Mbappe.
He said: “Kylian Mbappe is one of the best in the world, and we are obviously preparing.
“Ideally we have to double up against him and together we have to defend against him, but also the other players from Paris.”
However, Dortmund topped a difficult group earlier in the competition featuring PSG, AC Milan and Newcastle, before eliminating PSV Eindhoven and Atletico Madrid to reach the semi-finals.
“Were we the favourites in the group? Against Atletico Madrid? I don’t know,” Terzic said, when asked if his side will be underdogs against PSG.
“Maybe we’re the team with less experience, but we may have the greatest hunger.
“When everyone digs in, not just those on the field and on the bench but everyone in the stadium, we’ve got a huge opportunity – and we need to take it.”
He was expecting a different match to their last clash with PSG at Signal Iduna Park in December, when they drew 1-1.
Said Terzic: “In the group stage, we saw a significantly different game against Paris in our stadium. It was a very open match in which we were a bit closer to winning.
“Paris are currently at their peak and we have to top the performance we showed back then. We are confident we will show we have improved.”
Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer and forward Donyell Malen are likely to be fit to face PSG, added Terzic.
Dortmund will have Can and Ian Maatsen back from suspension while Sabitzer, who was out ill for several days, and Dutch international Malen, recovering from an injury picked up in March’s international duty, have returned to training.
“Marcel and Donyell both took part in training. We expect that they will be at our disposal tomorrow,” said Terzic. “Marcel is feeling better and we need him in his form from before his illness tomorrow.”
PSG will be without the injured trio of Presnel Kimpembe, Layvin Kurzawa and Sergio Rico. AFP
