In the early morning of May 2, Beijing time, the second first leg of the Champions League semifinals was played at the Westfalen Stadium, and Dortmund defeated Paris 1-0 at home to occupy the first leg.
Germany has been on a downward trend since winning the World Cup in 2014, losing in the group stage at the World Cup in Russia and Qatar, and being knocked out by England in the first round of the knockout rounds at the last European Championship. The lack of a high striker is one of the big factors in the fact that there is such a significant gap in the German team's results. In the history of Germany, there is no shortage of excellent center forwards such as Gerd Muller, Klinsmann, Klose, Gomez, etc., but since the retirement of K God, coupled with the change of playing style, the German team has fewer and fewer center forwards.
The 31-year-old Phil Kruger's outburst this season may be able to solve the urgent needs of the German team, after Bremen scored double goals in two consecutive seasons and helped the team avoid relegation, Dortmund spent 16.5 million euros to bring Phil Krueger to the Westphalia Stadium last summer. Because Alai's form plummeted after an injury, Moukoko was still young, and Phil Krueger was entrusted with a heavy responsibility.
In the 36th minute of the game, after receiving a long pass from Schlotterbeck's backfield, Phil Krueger knew how to unload the ball in front of the run, and shot through Donnarumma's goal under the close defense of Lucas Hernandez; according to statistics, in the last 14 games at Dortmund's home stadium, Phil Krueger contributed 10 goals and 6 assists, and was directly involved in 16 goals; He is also the fifth player in Dort's history to score in the Champions League semi-final after Lewandowski, and at the age of 31 years and 82 days, he is also the oldest player to score in the Champions League semi-final debut in the past 18 years.
In addition to scoring a goal, Phil Krueger completed two long balls, won four aerial duels, created one great chance, and had an 87 per cent pass completion rate, doing what a centre-forward should do. With 15 goals and 11 assists in 39 appearances so far this season, Phil Krueger is the only player in Dort's squad to have both goals and assists in double figures.