PSG ‘built to win Champions League’, says Dortmund boss Terzic

Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic said semi-final opponents Paris Saint-Germain were “built to win the Champions League”, ahead of Wednesday’s first leg.

Terzic said on Tuesday lifting the European Cup has been the “main objective” of PSG since being taken over by Qatar Sports Investments.

“The project in Paris began with the goal of winning the Champions League,” Terzic told reporters. “That’s been their main objective for a decade.”

PSG were crowned Ligue 1 champions on Sunday, their 10th league title in the past 12 seasons.

The domestic dominance has however translated into European silverware. PSG lost the final in 2020 to Bayern Munich.

Dortmund, who won the competition in 1997, are playing in the semi-finals for the fifth time in the club’s history and the first time since 2013, when they also lost to Bayern in the final.

Terzic singled out Kylian Mbappe for particular praise, but said PSG posed an attacking threat across the park.

“It’s the question you hear the most: ‘How do you stop Kylian Mbappe?’ But if you focus only on Kylian Mbappe, then comes Ousmane Dembele or (Goncalo) Ramos, or Vitinha, or (Achraf) Hakimi, or (Randal) Kolo Muani and all the others,” he said.

“They have unbelievable quality.

“If we want to focus on one thing, then we need to focus on the ball. If we worry about the ball — there’s just one — then it’s much harder for them to score.”

Dortmund topped a difficult group earlier in the competition featuring PSG, AC Milan and Newcastle, before eliminating PSV Eindhoven and Atletico Madrid to reach the semis.

“Were we the favourites in the group? Against Atletico Madrid? I don’t know,” Terzic said when asked if his side will be underdogs against Paris.

“Maybe we’re the team with less experience, but we may have the greatest hunger.

“When everyone digs in, not just those on the field and on the bench but everyone in the stadium, we’ve got a huge opportunity — and we need to take it.”

Terzic said several key players, including quarter-final goalscorers Marcel Sabitzer and Sebastien Haller, would be fit to play.