Paris Saint-Germain are bidding to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit and beat Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League semi-final return match tonight, with the aim of bringing the curtain down on the Kylian Mbappe era at the club in the final at Wembley.
The only time PSG have previously appeared in the biggest match in club football, the French side lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich behind closed doors in Lisbon in 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Reaching the June 1 showpiece in London, and playing before a crowd of 90,000 against either Real Madrid or Bayern again, would be different.
Getting there would give Mbappe the chance to end his seven-year stay with PSG in the best possible way, as they look to win the Champions League for the first time
Mbappe informed PSG in February of his intention to depart the Parc des Princes when his contract expires at the end of the season. Now 25 and the captain of France, Mbappe has become the Parisians' all-time top scorer with 255 goals in 305 appearances, including 43 this season alone.
He has 48 in the Champions League.
PSG did not produce their best performance in losing 1-0 in Germany last week, and the pressure is on them to turn the tie around at home.
However, a repeat of what happened when they hosted Dortmund in the group stage last September will suffice. On that occasion they won 2-0, with Mbappe netting the first goal from the penalty spot.
"We are sure we are going to turn it around and qualify for the final," Mbappe said. "There is a lot of pressure on us, which is normal because there is a place in the Champions League final at stake. All the more so when you know about this club's past in the competition."
Key to PSG's chances of recovering from the first-leg loss to Dortmund may be in defense.
They suffered a huge blow when Lucas Hernandez ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while trying to stop Niclas Fuellkrug's goal in Dortmund. In addition, left-back Nuno Mendes had a torrid time up against Jadon Sancho.
