Yellow Wall of Dortmund in PSG's path to redemption

DORTMUND • Thomas Tuchel is hoping Paris Saint-Germain can break their Champions League last-16 curse when they face his former club Borussia Dortmund today.

The PSG coach was in charge of Dortmund for two seasons until his sacking in May 2017, three days after winning the German Cup for his first major trophy, and knows what to expect from their passionate home crowd in the first leg.

His team are desperate to break their jinx having exited at this stage in the last three seasons.

"The first leg has never been a problem," the German told daily newspaper Welt on Sunday.

"The whole story will inevitably come back to us for the second leg, which will be in Paris on March 11.

"But I already said after the unfortunate exit against Manchester United last year, 'Guys, hopefully we'll get into the same situation again'. Here we are again."

A year ago, PSG bowed out on the away-goals rule after losing 3-1 in Paris despite winning the first leg 2-0 in Manchester. In 2017-18, they went down 3-1 at Real Madrid and then 2-1 in Paris.

Their 2016-17 exit is also the most famous defeat in recent memory in Europe's top club competition. After a 4-0 home romp, they crashed 6-1 at Barcelona, whose 6-5 aggregate win was the first time a team had come back from such a margin in the knockout stages.

French league leaders PSG are 10 points clear despite being held 4-4 by strugglers Amiens on Saturday, with stars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe rested for today's clash.

To end the unwanted streak, they must first overcome the intimidating Yellow Wall of Dortmund supporters at Signal Iduna Park.

Aggregate: 3-3 (United win on away goals)

1st leg: 2-0 (away)

2nd leg: 1-3 (home)

Aggregate: Real win 5-2

1st: 1-3 (away)

2nd: 1-2 (home)

Aggregate: Barca win 6-5

1st: 4-0 (home)

2nd: 1-6 (away)

"Just look at the south stand in Dortmund," said Arsenal fan Johnny Rotten, lead singer of British punk band The Sex Pistols. "They all stand, chant and make such a noise that the stand seems like the pharynx of some huge, roaring monster. It's fantastic."

Dortmund's new star striker Erling Haaland has described scoring in front of the imposing terrace as a "fantastic feeling", having bagged nine goals in six games since he signed from Salzburg last month.

Five of them have come in his three home games, including one in the 4-0 rout of Frankfurt on Friday which kept Dortmund in third place in the Bundesliga.

"If you are the opposition, it crushes you. But if you have her at your back as a goalkeeper, it's a fantastic feeling," Dortmund shot-stopper Roman Weidenfeller added.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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