The Return Leg against Dortmund in Paris, a Trap for PSG

PSG will play their second leg of the 2023/2024 Champions League semi-final at home: it might not necessarily be an advantage.

This season, PSG struggled away from home… but that was during the group stage matches. Since the round of 16, PSG has shown resilience away from home and even completed a comeback against Barcelona. However, in the semi-final against Dortmund, Paris falls back into its old habits with a 1-0 defeat.

Nothing is decided yet, and PSG will have the home advantage at Parc des Princes. But is it really an advantage? Paris has only hosted the return leg in knockout stages recently during the 2017-2018 season: PSG lost 3-1 at Real Madrid in the first leg of the round of 16, and suffered a 2-1 defeat at home in the return leg.

In 2019, despite a win in the first leg, PSG experienced another comeback against Manchester United (1-3) at Parc des Princes. We can also note the home defeats by a score of 0-1 against Bayern Munich in 2021 and 2023. In 2021, the first leg victory (3-2) led to qualification. In 2023, PSG lost both the first leg and the return leg.

Ultimately, since the beginning of the QSI era in the UCL, which is since 2012-2013, the home record is… rather mixed: 7 wins, 5 draws, and 7 losses. So, anything is possible. But Paris pulled off a big win in the previous match. Therefore, it’s still possible…