PARIS – London’s calling, but not for Kylian Mbappé.
When Borussia Dortmund’s players rushed over to their fans wearing yellow “London 24” T-shirts and joined in the celebrations after knocking out Paris Saint-Germain to reach the Champions League final on Tuesday, Mbappé had long left the field.
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Wembley Stadium on June 1 is the final stop on Dortmund’s quest for the Champions League trophy, by which time Mbappé will have played his last game for PSG having failed to win the trophy the club’s cash-rich Qatari owners so crave.
Central defender Mats Hummels headed Dortmund into the final as the German team won 1-0 at PSG.
Moments after Warren Zaïre-Emery missed an open goal for PSG, Hummels rose unchallenged to head in Julian Brandt's corner from the left in the 50th minute.
Dortmund advanced 2-0 on aggregate and largely contained Mbappé, who is leaving at the end of the season.
PSG exerted late pressure.
Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel palmed away Mbappé's low shot, then pushed Mbappé’s deflected close-range effort onto the crossbar with a superb one-handed save. The Parc des Princes crowd groaned when midfielder Vitinha’s thumping 25-meter strike rattled the woodwork.
Coach Edin Terzić's team will play either record 14-time champion Real Madrid or six-time winner Bayern Munich on June 1 at Wembley Stadium. Madrid and Bayern drew 2-2 in the first leg and play on Wednesday.
“Extremely proud. I’m very happy,” Terzić said. “We beat a team like PSG two times and we again kept a clean sheet. We started really well and kept them away from the goal.”
Dortmund is on course for its second Champions League trophy after winning in 1997 and a third European trophy, having won the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1966. Dortmund also reached the Champions League final in 2013, losing to Bayern.
“Indescribable. After more than 10 years, I am in the final with Borussia again,” said Marco Reus, Dortmund's veteran midfielder who is leaving the team after this season. “How we won the game, no one will ask tomorrow. Shots against the post won’t matter tomorrow.”
For PSG, it's another season ending without raising the trophy its cash-rich Qatari owners have chased after by spending huge amounts on star players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Lionel Messi and Mbappé. PSG lost its only Champions League final in 2020 to Bayern.
“Efficiency, that’s what we were missing,” PSG captain Marquinhos said. “We should have defended better. They scored from a corner and a counter-attack (in the first leg). We created more chances but they won both games.”
As Dortmund's players celebrated, Mbappé looked dejected as he trudged for the last time in a Champions League game wearing a PSG jersey. He is widely expected to join Madrid.
Moments before Dortmund’s goal, Zaïre-Emery somehow hit the post from two meters out after Gonçalo Ramos flicked on Mbappé’s cross from the left.
On Hummels' goal, PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma again did not move off his line to claim the ball, having not done so when Barcelona scored on a corner from the left in the first leg of the quarterfinals.
Coach Luis Enrique’s players seemed nervous, playing cautiously and defending too deeply in the first half, allowing Dortmund to settle into a comfortable rhythm.
Mbappé was ineffective in attack when PSG lost the first leg and, despite their speed, Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé struggled to find space behind a well-organized Dortmund defense with midfielder Emre Can offering good protection.
It took 30 minutes before Mbappé and Zaïre-Emery freed Dembélé on the right of the penalty area, but he failed to hit the target.
Speedy left winger Karim Adeyemi did so for Dortmund five minutes later when a rapid counter-attack exposed PSG’s defense, but Donnarumma rescued PSG with a fine low save.
Hummel’s goal at least woke up PSG’s attack, but Ramos missed the target when well-placed either side of a stinging shot from left back Nuno Mendes hitting the left post.
Dembélé then cut inside Hummels, who was perhaps unfortunate not to concede a penalty midway through the second half. Referee Daniele Orsato awarded a free kick.
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi pointed to the amount of times PSG hit the post or crossbar over both legs.
But in reality PSG again fell short, despite boasting one of the world’s best players in Mbappé.
PSG only qualified for the knockout stage in the last round of group games, losing at Newcastle and AC Milan and finishing second behind Dortmund. Overall, PSG lost five games in the competition.
Mbappé's last home game for PSG — which has already clinched the French league title — will be Sunday against Toulouse, and his last game for the club May 25 in the French Cup final against Lyon.
In Lille and not London.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer