Penalty frustration in Eindhoven: A highly controversial referee decision deprived Borussia Dortmund of a brilliant starting position in the Champions League.
In the 1-1 (1-0) in the first leg of the round of 16 at PSV Eindhoven, BVB was leading until veteran Mats Hummels attempted an emergency tackle in the penalty area: the “culprit” and his teammates were terribly annoyed about the penalty kick to equalize. Nevertheless, Dortmund have good chances of reaching the quarter-finals.
Although Hummels initially hit the ball, he cleared his opponent with his trailing leg; it was a can-do decision. Referee Srdjan Jovanovic (Serbia) stuck with it after consulting the VAR: PSV striker Luuk de Jong scored (56th), Hummels threw his arms up while cursing.
Donyell Malen, trained by the Dutch league leaders, had put BVB in the lead (24th). On March 13th, Dortmund can secure a bonus of more than ten million euros and lucrative participation in the Club World Cup with a win in the second leg.
2000 BVB fans in Eindhoven
The approximately 2,000 BVB fans celebrated warmly in the market square, in the shadow of the statue of Frits Philips – everything in Eindhoven is dominated by the powerful electronics group, PSV is a factory club. Its fans welcomed the Dortmund bus with a wink: “It’s a shame, Germany, it’s all over,” they sang.
Of course, Edin Terzic saw it completely differently. The coach had already called for a compact appearance in the “Ronaldo” press conference room, and in the interview before kick-off he spoke of “enduring” a fiery opening phase from the opponent and then disrupting the feared PSV combinations as a team.
This was initially successful, even though BVB had lost some of their defensive support. Hummels stepped in for the ill Niklas Süle and, like Marco Reus, became a record holder with his 85th European Cup game for Dortmund. Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was canceled at short notice with muscular problems. Alexander Meyer replaced him properly.
Eindhoven, unbeaten in 37 league games, got off to a stormy start after fireworks from the home corner; former Bayern professional Malik Tillman could have scored from an unmarked shot (16′). As instructed, BVB took the pace out of the game under pressing pressure wherever they could – if the first PSV attack line was outplayed, large spaces opened up.
De Jong was unremarkable except for the penalty goal
In particular, the “difference player” Malen, as BVB advisor Matthias Sammer called him, came into this. The 25-year-old scored his first Champions League goal of the season and raised his arms in apology: Sergino Dest had deflected his shot and the ball flew off the crossbar and into the goal.
PSV lost momentum until Johan Bakayoko equalized from close range: the Belgian missed miserably (37′). The former Gladbach striker de Jong, the best striker in the honorary division, was canceled until the penalty.
Eindhoven had earned this with new force and waves of attacks that caused BVB some problems. Only after the 1-1 draw did Dortmund keep their opponents away from their own goal and had a great opportunity to take the lead again: Substitute Marius Wolf failed with his backheel (72′).