In the match between PSG vs Dortmund in the first round of Group F Champions League 2023/24, the home team easily won 2-0. Notably, striker Kylian Mbappe continued to shine for PSG.
Scored
PSG: Mbappe (49′ pen), Hakimi (58′)
PSG launched a fast attack force with a trio of French players with the combination of Dembele – Mbappe – Muani, while Dortmund also started with a 3-man attack of Wolf – Malen – Adeyemi.
Before meeting Dortmund, PSG was having a bad start in the French National Championship this season. With 8 points after 5 matches in Ligue 1, Enrique’s PSG had the worst start under the Qatar dynasty since they took over the Capital team in May 2011. The defeat against Nice once again showed PSG’s instability at home recently. They only won 3 of the last 9 matches played at Parc des Princes, drawing 1 and losing 6.
Obviously, compared to performance and stability, Dortmund is better than PSG. However, with the important nature of the match against Dortmund, PSG made certain changes and brought expectations to the fans. After the opening whistle, both sides attacked quite proactively and PSG had the first chance, in the 19th minute Vitinha hit the post after Hakimi’s clearing.
PSG controlled the ball more than 70% in the first half but they were almost powerless to make goalkeeper Kobel work hard. Except for Vitinha’s kick that hit the post, PSG’s expensive strikers did not leave too many marks.
In the second half, PSG increased the pace of the match. In the 47th minute, midfielder Sule let the ball touch his hand after Mbappe’s shot in the Dortmund penalty area. This time PSG got a penalty and Mbappe shot very hard to open the score even though Kobel guessed the right direction. 1-0 for Enrique’s team. In fact, this is Mbappe’s 8th goal in…5 matches for PSG in the 2023/24 season.
In the 58th minute, PSG scored the second goal. Vitinha bounced off the wall very well and Hakimi escaped and finished to increase the score to 2-0. At this point, Dortmund was forced to change their attack line to find an equalizer. The German club almost scored in the 79th minute, but Bynoe-Gittens hit the post after Hakimi lost the ball.
In the final minutes of the match, PSG had more opportunities but were unsuccessful. Even when Goncalo Ramos took advantage of Mbappe’s through ball to score in the 90+6 minute, he was caught offside. However, a 2-0 victory was enough for PSG to top Group F because, in the previous early match, Milan was held 0-0 by Newcastle.
In the second match on October 5, Dortmund faces Milan and PSG travels to Newcastle’s stadium.
Lineup
PSG : Donnarumma, Hakimi, Skriniar, Marquinhos, Hernandez, Ugarte, Zaire Emery, Vitinha, Dembele, Muani, Kylian Mbappe.
Dortmund: Kobel, Ryerson, Sule, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Brandt, Can, Sabitzer, Wolf, Malen, Adeyemi.