After butting heads during the Champions League group stage, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain renew acquintances for the first leg of their semi-final at Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday night.

Both teams came from behind in their quarter-final ties against Spanish opposition to secure their ticket to the last four, with Dortmund edging past Atletico Madrid and PSG overcoming Barcelona.

Dortmund have progressed to their first Champions League semi-final since reaching the showpiece event under Jurgen Klopp in 2012-13 after beating Atletico 5-4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, winning 4-2 in a thrilling second leg on home soil a fortnight ago.

However, preparations for their last four tie with PSG have not gone according to plan, as they have failed to win their last two Bundesliga matches, drawing 1-1 with champions Bayer Leverkusen after conceding a 97th-minute equaliser before suffering a heavy 4-1 defeat at RB Leipzig last weekend.

Despite taking an early lead through Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho, who became the highest scoring Englishman (40 goals) in Bundesliga history, BVB were trailing 2-1 at halftime before Mohamed Simakan and Christoph Baumgartner sealed a convincing victory for Leipzig in the second half, significantly denting Dortmund’s hopes of securing a top-four finish.

Edin Terzic’s side sit fifth in the table and five points behind Leipzig in fourth with just three matches remaining, although fifth spot could be enough to secure a place in next season’s newly-expanded Champions League as Germany currently boasts the second-best coefficient ranking behind Italy.

BVB can automatically qualify for the 2024-25 Champions League if they go all the way in this season’s tournament, replicating the heroics of the famous 1996-97 squad, although they arguably enter the last four as underdogs with PSG and either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid standing in their way.

PSG have moved one step closer to winning their first-ever Champions Leaague trophy after beating five-time winners Barcelona 6-4 on aggregate in an action-packed quarter-final tie, progressing to their third semi-final in five seasons.

Luis Enrique’s side lost 3-2 in the first leg on home soil and were then trailing 1-0 in the reverse fixture in Spain, but the dismissal of Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo turned the tide in PSG’s favour, with Kylian Mbappe (2), Vitinha and Ousmne Dembele – against his former club – all scoring to help the French giants complete the turnaround and seal a 4-1 victory.

Two more 4-1 wins in Ligue 1 over Lyon and Lorient followed for PSG, before they were forced to rescue a 3-3 draw at home against Le Havre last weekend, with Goncalo Ramos scoring a dramatic 95th-minute equaliser. Nevertheless, Enrique’s side were crowned champions for a 12th time on Sunday without kicking a ball after second-placed Monaco lost at Lyon.

PSG are understandably in high spirits as they prepare for Wednesday’s trip to Germany to face BVB, and they will be confident of success in the first leg of their Champions League tie as they are unbeaten in their last 15 away matches across all competitions (W 12 D 3) since losing 2-1 at AC Milan in the group stage almost six months ago.

Les Parisiens finishe second behind Dortmund in Group F of this season’s Champions League, despite securing four points across their two encounters with the Bundesliga side. PSG played out a 1-1 draw at Signal Iduna Park in their most recent meeting in December and have never beaten BVB in three previous visits to Germany.

Borussia Dortmund vs. PSG Head to head

In the previous six meetings between these two teams, Dortmund have claimed one victory while PSG have won two, and they have drawn in three. PSG have scored seven goals and conceded four in the process.

• 04/11/2010
  PSG

  0

  Borussia Dortmund

  0
  Europa League
• 18/02/2020
  Borussia Dortmund

  2

  PSG

  1
  Champions League
• 11/03/2020
  PSG

  2

  Borussia Dortmund

  0
  Champions League
• 19/09/2023
  PSG

  2

  Borussia Dortmund

  0
  Champions League
• 13/12/2023
  Borussia Dortmund

  1

  PSG

  1
  Champions League