Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain produced a spectacular encounter with 28 dangerous penalty box incidents on Wednesday evening. One scene in particular will remain in the memory: Niklas Süle’s intervention.

It is tradition not only to celebrate goals in Dortmund, but also to cheer when there are special challenges or interventions. Niklas Süle’s block in the 18th minute had the fans up out of their seats and will go down as one of the most spectacular interventions in the club’s history.

What happened? “kicker” described the incident as follows in its live ticker: “The next huge chance for Paris! Süle misjudges a long ball over to Mbappé, who goes clean through on Kobel, rounds him to the left and then shoots towards an empty net from a tight angle. But Süle chases back, raises his leg into the air as he slides in – and clears the ball off the line spectacularly in the process.”

And he did so in the presence of Sven “Manni” Bender, who prevented a certain goal for FC Bayern Munich in a similar fashion with the tips of his toes in the DFB-Pokal semi-final in April 2017. Without it, the trophy would not have been lifted that same year. And Jürgen Kohler, who denied Manchester United a goal on several occasions in the Champions League semi-final in April 1997, will certainly have been watching on TV. There would have been no big ears without Kohler.

And now Süle. The group might not have been won without his block. “I somehow got my foot up high. It looks spectacular,” the defender told DAZN, before adding self-critically: “I think I could have done better beforehand.” Sporting director Sebastian Kehl was full of praise in the catacombs of SIGNAL IDUNA PARK later in the evening: “Sven Bender was lauded for that for a long time. I think Niklas will now hear this story often too. It was outstanding how he pulled off the sliding block there.”
Boris Rupert