Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund Combined XI Before The UCL Semis
Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund will meet again in the UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals after a tight group stage battle, and here is my combined XI between the two sides.
Goalkeeper: Gregor Kobel
Borussia Dortmund
Ironically enough, it has been rumored that Kobel could potentially be replacing Donnarumma in Paris this summer. This would have been a very close decision before recently, but Gianluigi Donnarumma’s poor performances against Barcelona show that Kobel is the clear choice here. While Donnarumma is the most gifted shot-stopper in the world, he has been prone to mental errors and struggles with the ball at his feet. Both of these were exposed against Barcelona. On Raphinia’s first goal at the Parc Des Princes, Donnarumma made a poor effort to deal with Lamine Yamal’s cross, and it fell right to Raphinia, who smashed it into an open goal. Before the second goal, Donnarumma gave the ball straight back to Barca with a very poor pass, and then Pedri played a beautiful ball into the box that Raphinia finished off. For the final goal, Donnarumma had very poor control of his box on a corner, and Andreas Christensen headed one into the back of the net. While Kobel is not quite as good of a shot-stopper as the Italian, he is certainly a better distributor and certainly not a bad shot-stopper either. While Donnarumma has shown flashes of being elite, Kobel is the choice here.
Right Back: Achraf Hakimi
Paris Saint-Germain
Hakimi is one of the players here who has been on both sides of this matchup, and he is the clear choice here. One of Julian Ryerson or Marius Wolf has been playing right back for Dortmund, and neither of them are on the level of Hakimi. Hakimi is one of the best attacking full-backs in the world. While he has had his share of defensive struggles, the offensive ability significantly outweighs that. One of the easier picks on this team, Hakimi is the selection.
Centerback: Mats Hummels
Borussia Dortmund
Coming off a great performance against Atletico Madrid in the second leg, Mats Hummels just barely gets this slot over Marquinhos. The 35-year-old has aged like fine wine and has been a key part of this Dortmund defense. He and Marquinhos are both good offensive center backs, but Hummels has a slight defensive edge. The area where this difference arises is aerially. Hummels’ aerial ability is one of his strengths, while that is a weakness for Marquinhos. This was a very close comparison, but Hummels just barely earns this spot.
Centerback: Lucas Hernández
Paris Saint-Germain
After being brought over from Bayern Munich in the summer, Hernández has been one of Paris’ most important players. He covered left back for most of the season with Nuno Mendes missing significant time due to injury, but with his return, Hernández was able to slide back to his preferred role as a center back. While he has had some inconsistent performances recently, he still is the clear choice over any of Dortmund’s centerbacks. He has been especially great on the ball this year, and that has been key for Paris Saint-Germain’s buildup.
Left Back: Nuno Mendes
Paris Saint-Germain
Even though he has missed considerable time with injuries over the past year, Nuno Mendes is one of the best left backs in the world when he is healthy. He was the only defender to put up a fight in the first leg against Barcelona, and had an incredible goal-line clearance to save a goal from Lewandowski. Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen did score an important goal against Atletico Madrid, but overall he has not been great for Dortmund. He has been below average on both sides of the ball, and has especially struggled against more physical attackers. This is one of the easier picks on this team, Nuno Mendes takes it.
Midfield: Vitinha
Paris Saint-Germain
After a rough first season with PSG, Vitinha has exceeded anyone’s expectations this year and become one of the best midfielders in the world. He was by far the best player on the pitch in both legs against Barcelona, and without him there is no chance PSG would have made it through. The stat that exemplified his performance the best is that he only was dispossessed once across two legs, and he scored more times than Barça was able to take the ball from him. While Emre Can has been very solid for BVB this season, he is not near Vitinha’s level this year.
Midfield: Marcel Sabitzer
Borussia Dortmund
This was one of the closest decisions in this squad, but I think the Austrian just barely edges out Warren Zaïre-Emery. While his league form has been suspect, Sabitzer has been incredible in the Champions League. In Dortmund’s 4–2 win over Atletico Madrid to send them through, Sabitzer scored a goal and provided two crucial assists to send the German side through. Zaïre-Emery has been amazing in his own right this season, but some inconsistency issues are what cost him this comparison. He has had stretches this season, such as the late Champions League group stage matches, where he has looked like one of the best midfielders in the world, but he has also had long rough patches. This one could go either way, but I think Sabitzer just barely earns the spot.
Midfield: Julian Brandt
Borussia Dortmund
Coming off his Man Of The Match performance against Atleti, Julian Brandt earns the final midfield spot. While Fabian Ruiz has been solid for PSG and improved significantly from last season, Brandt is the clear choice. He has been one of the best creators in the Bundesliga, leading the league with 11 assists, 78 chances created, and also being near the top of nearly every playmaking stat. While he is not a good defender, his attacking prowess easily outweighs that. Brandt will likely be the main man PSG has to focus on going into the match, or they could end up with a similar fate as Atletico Madrid.
Left Wing: Bradley Barcola
Paris Saint-Germain
Back in December, Barcola was forced into the starting lineup against Dortmund due to Ousmane Dembélé’s suspension for an acclimation of yellow cards. While he did not have the best performance in that match, he has taken considerable steps forward as a player since then. He scored a crucial goal to give PSG a two-goal lead against Real Sociedad, was the most threatening player on the pitch in his substitute appearance coming back from injury in the first leg against Barcelona, and in the second leg of that tie he forced a crucial red card and provided Dembélé with an incredible assist. Jadon Sancho has been good for Dortmund since returning on loan after a rocky period with Manchester United, but Barcola has been playing at a slightly higher level.
Striker: Kylian Mbappé
Paris Saint-Germain
Even though the tie against Barcelona was not his best, this was the easiest pick of the roster. Mbappé is far and away the best player in the world, and Dortmund doesn’t have an attacker that even comes close to him. Niclas Füllkrug, who will be starting up top for the Black and Yellow, did have a very good performance against Atleti, but Mbappé is the clear and obvious choice here. Even though he did not perform well against Barcelona, he still managed to bag a brace in the second leg that sent PSG through. Dortmund’s gameplan will likely focus on trying to stop him like Barça did in the first leg, but that is a very tall order.
Right Wing: Ousmane Dembélé
Paris Saint-Germain
Ousmane Dembélé is one of the best creators in the world, and the clear choice here on the right. The Spanish headlines before PSG’s matchup with Barcelona constantly laughed at Dembélé only having one goal coming into the match, but since then he has scored four goals in three games. While his first leg goal did mask a suspect performance, he was significantly better in the return leg with the return of Achraf Hakimi from suspension to aid him on the right flank. Not only did he score, but he created the best type of chance; a penalty. Karim Adeyemi will likely be Dortmund’s choice on the right side, and he has had somewhat of a disappointing year. He did score Dortmund’s lone goal against PSG in the group stages, but overall his year has been plagued by inconsistency. Coming off a big performance against one of his former teams, I think Dembélé has another coming up against another one of his former employers.
Manager: Luis Enrique
Paris Saint-Germain
The final choice of this team, Luis Enrique has to be the manager. What he has done with this Paris Saint-Germain side is simply incredible. He has taken over a squad that lost multiple massive names, replaced over half of their starting XI, and brought them to the Champions League semi-finals for the third time in their club's history. While Edin Terzic has done a great job in Europe, many Dortmund fans are very unhappy with him and some even want him sacked. While reaching this stage of the Champions League is very impressive, Dortmund are only fifth in the league and currently not on pace to play in Europe’s top club competition next year. Luis Enrique has won nearly everything there is to win with Barcelona, and I think he is the easy choice as he looks to repeat that with PSG.
