A friendly draw, which they reached after their excellent performance in the most demanding group (PSG was left behind and Milan and Newcastle did not make it to the round of 16) of the first phase of the competition, helped Borussia Dortmund is positioned among the eight best teams in the Champions League for the fourth time in the last ten years. Left behind was PSV Eindhoven, which survived after beginning its journey with two previous summer qualifiers, as feisty as it was short of level to return among the nobility of European football. There Borussia consolidates itself even in interwar times. In the search for new values and while squeezing several veterans, he does not offer the best known version of him, but at least at times he maintains his identity: he runs, hits, presses and drives at full speed. His display to open the match, after a first leg in which he drew, was too much for PSV.
2
Gregor Kobel, Ian Maatsen, Hummels, Emre Can, Niklas Süle, Salih Ozcan, Malen (Karim Adeyemi, min. 70), Jadon Sancho (Marco Reus, min. 75), M. Sabitzer, Brandt (Felix NMecha, min. 58 ) and Füllkrug
0
![PSV](https://as01.epimg.net/img/comunes/fotos/fichas/equipos/large/114.png)
Walter Benitez, Oliver Boscagli, Jordan Teze, Jerdy Schouten, Sergiño Dest, Joey Veerman (Ricardo Pepi, min. 81), Guus Til (Hirving Lozano, min. 45), Mauro Junior (Isaac Babadi, min. 86), Johan Bakayoko , Luuk de Jong and Malik Tillman
Goals 1-0 min. 3: Jadon Sancho. 2-0 min. 95: Marco Reus.
Referee Daniele Orsato
Yellow cards Niklas Süle (min. 87) and Felix NMecha (min. 89)
Dortmund came back from the start because they came out to play as if it were only going to last three minutes. During that time he created several breaks for his rival and scored the goal that defined the match. If PSV thought about temporizing, reality shook them. Jadon Sancho scored thanks to a precise shot from the front that hit the post and Maatsen and Malen, two Dutchmen, showed that the flanks were going to be yellow territory. There was no response to the tyranny of Borussia. PSV wrapped itself in a cloak of timidity and limited itself to running after the ball and covering up cracks that were growing at the dizzying pace they demanded.
That at half-time Borussia had not sealed the tie was the best news that PSV recovered from the first half, which gave them extra life to regroup with Hirving Lozano and try to move the ball in the opposite field. Almost immediately the Mexican showed up to warn that there was a team willing to turn the game around. The disputed local coach Edin Terzic had no doubts and removed the insubstantial Brandt from the field to gain strength inside with Nmecha. In the box the television insisted on focusing the inquisitive gaze of Mathias Sammer, glory of the club who now holds the category of “advisor”. Borussia folded. Or at least they tried because there are nuances that a team accustomed to back-and-forth does not master.
The end was arid for Borussia who had started the night by subduing their rival and who after having a bad time thought they were celebrating the sentence with a goal from Füllkrug. The video arbitration annulled it after a very fine line. No more avoiding offside by being in line. There are no longer any nuances in the face of VAR scrutiny: either success or a trigger. It hurt Borussia and they suffered an ordeal to reach a heads-up outcome in which Luuk de Jong had the tie in his boots just before Marco Reus’ sentence came in the last action of the tie.
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