Striker Niclas Fuellkrug on Tuesday backed Borussia Dortmund for a return to Wembley, 11 years after the club last reached the Champions League final at the same stadium.
Dortmund beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 in the second leg of their quarterfinal series, coming from behind twice to progress 5-4 on aggregate to the last four, where they will face Paris Saint-Germain.
Fuellkrug’s brilliant second-half header brought Dortmund level in the series, just three minutes before Marcel Sabitzer scored the hosts’ decisive fourth goal.
Describing the night as “magical,” Fuellkrug savored moving into the semifinals, but said Dortmund was not finished: “We’ve got one goal: Wembley.”
Fuellkrug was playing second-division soccer with Werder Bremen two seasons ago and made the move to Dortmund this past August.
“We’re playing in a Champions League semifinal. For someone like me, I think it’s a little more special, there’s a few others here who experienced that before.”
Under Coach Jurgen Klopp, Dortmund made it to the final in 2013, where it lost to rival Bayern Munich 2-1.
Defender Mats Hummels and Marco Reus are the two remaining Dortmund players from that match, while defender Niklas Suele won the Champions League with Bayern in 2020.
“The atmosphere, the energy on the field, was extreme. We knew from the first minute that nobody was going to give an inch,” said Fuellkrug. “We were crazy aggressive. That’s something we need to take with us for the coming weeks.”
Dortmund played PSG in the group stage, losing 2-0 in Paris before drawing 1-1 at home to top the section.
“We played well at home against them but not away. We want to do better — and of course reach the final,” said midfielder Julian Brandt, who opened the scoring on Tuesday.
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© Agence France-Presse
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