The maiden win in the European Cup / UEFA Champions League almost four decades ago in the 1987/1988 Season is now a distant memory for Dutch Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven, and the second most successful team in the Dutch top-flight football with 24 league titles were drawn to host Borussia Dortmund from the German Bundesliga 1 in the UEFA Champions Last 16 first leg at Philips Stadion. After the full 90 minutes plus added time, the team now led by former boss of the Black and Yellows Peter Bosz managed to snatch a come-from-behind 1-1 draw against Edin Terzić’s side in Netherlands.
PSV Eindhoven Came From Behind to Draw Dortmund at Home with de Jong’s Spot Kick
After losing to Feyenoord in the KNVB Cup Round of 16, PSV Eindhoven have been invincible in their following four matches in the Dutch Eredivisie, winning three and drawing once prior to their European club football competition matchup against Dortmund. The Black and Yellows, however, have been undefeated since 10th December 2023, bagging four victories and six stalemates during the process. It was the visitors who drew first blood in this UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg at Philips Stadion, courtesy of Donyell Malen six minutes before the half-hour mark.
Malik Tillman failed to keep hold of the ball when he received it in his own half, and Jadon Sancho, who is on loan from English Premier League’s Manchester United, kickstarted the attack from the left flank. The England international returned the ball to Emre Can, followed by his lob pass to Niclas Füllkrug, who then stopped the ball for Marcel Sabitzer. Sabitzer wasted no time to find Malen, and the winger was persistent to charge into the dangerous zone, beating the goalkeeper Walter Benítez at the top right corner from an almost impossible angle for the opener. It is worth mentioning that Malen played for PSV Eindhoven from 2017 to 2021 before his move to the Bundesliga 1.
Down for a good half hour, PSV Eindhoven finally strike back, and the equaliser was questionable. Tillman, who was the man to blame for Borussia Dortmund‘s opening goal, caught the ball inside the penalty box, but before he could have a shot, a tough challenge by Mats Hummels followed suit. The German was seen contacting the ball first with his tackle, before his follow-through seemed to have caught the ankle of Tillman’s, and the referee pointed the spot for a penalty. Upstepped Luuk de Jong for the spot kick, and the PSV Eindhoven captain managed to squeeze in the leveler despite the goalkeeper Alexander Meyer’s accurate guess. This UCL Last 16 first leg would end 1-1 as a result.
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Penalty or Not for PSV Eindhoven?
The most controversial moment of the game was of course the penalty awarded to PSV Eindhoven that ultimately costed the visiting Dortmund the first leg win of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, in which the culprit of the spot kick Hummels denied that it should be given in the first place.
The 35-year-old former FIFA World Cup winner from Germany said this on the awarded penalty that went against Borussia Dortmund and himself: “Zero percent a penalty. Zero! I slide in, I clearly play the ball. We’re in a Champions League round of 16 tie. You have to expect the highest standard from the referees. If we’re better on the ball in the return leg, we’ll progress. We should’ve had a lot more composure on the ball here; we gave it away too quickly. What I saw today was a beatable Eindhoven.”
In the other UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg happened in San Siro, Italy, the first-placed team in the Italian Serie A Inter Milan beat Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid with 1-0 via a late winner by Marko Arnautović. The veteran forward started the game from the bench and came onto the pitch in the second half to score the only goal of the game, earning Nerazzurri a 1-0 advantage going into the second leg of this continental cup tie at Civitas Metropolitan Stadium, Madrid three weeks from now. Check out this article for the full match details that we have dedicatedly crafted for you now!
Head Coaches’ Thoughts on the PSV Eindhoven-Borussia Dortmund Game
Bosz provided his verdict on the 1-1 stalemate between PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund at the former’s home ground: “A defeat would have been unjustified given the play, but I can live with a draw. We started a little bit difficult because we didn’t get the pressure on. That was because they played a little differently than we expected. As a result, there were a lot of chances back and forth – you don’t want that. In the second half we had a lot of opportunities to become dangerous. They hardly came out on the counter anymore. We should have got more out of that.”
The 60-year-old did not forget to talk about his tactical arrangement on putting 27-year-old Netherlands player Jerdy Schouten out of his usual position in the midfield at the right centre-back role. “We wanted to play under the pressure and we succeeded. He played very well. Even though we played with a different midfield, we were still in control there. That also helped us,” noted the former AFC Ajax, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Olympique Lyonnais manager.
Terzić, the manager of the Black and Yellow, said he looked forward to the returning leg versus PSV Eindhoven at home three weeks from now. “It was the tight and intense match we expected. We didn’t manage to maintain the pressure after taking the lead. PSV Eindhoven had a lot of control in the second half. We were chasing the game a lot but we did manage not to concede any really good chances. We’ll take the result. If we win our home game in three weeks, we’ll qualify for the next round. That’s the clear objective. We can put it right in three weeks.”
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🚨| This penalty was given to PSV against Borussia Dortmund after this challenge from Mats Hummels.
Thoughts?
https://t.co/zEDbw4btAK— Red Card Alert (@collinabanter) February 20, 2024
