When Borussia Dortmund host PSG in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, the focus will once again be on Anthony Taylor. The French team’s memories of the Englishman are still fresh
When Borussia Dortmund’s aim on Wednesday evening is to put themselves in the best possible position for the second leg in Paris in a week’s time, Anthony Taylor will be the main referee in front of the yellow wall.
This will bring back memories: The Englishman has refereed four BVB matches on the European stage so far – the last of which resulted in the round of 16 exit in the 2019/20 season. Opponents in March 2020? PSG.
At the Parc des Princes, the 45-year-old was “a confident and calm referee with a long leash for long stretches” – which was not helped by his red card for Emre Can in the 89th minute.
With the score at 0:2 – BVB had won the first leg 2:1 (Erling Haaland’s brace) – emotions ran high: Neymar, who had previously gone head-to-head with Can, went down theatrically after a shove, provoking the sending-off for the Dortmund player
Favre finds it “almost ridiculous “
“It’s too harsh, almost ridiculous,” BVB coach Lucien Favre commented on the red card on Sky – and added: “Neymar exaggerated.” Michael Zorc took the same line. “We know that Neymar is a good actor,” was his verdict. “He showed that today.”
PSG eventually advanced to the final under coach Thomas Tuchel, where Bayern proved they had more staying power in Lisbon (1-0). This season, the French side are making another attempt to finally lift the coveted first trophy
Meanwhile, Paris’ memories of Taylor are much fresher than BVB’s: the Premier League referee unusually took charge of the first leg of the round of 16 tie against Barcelona (2:3) three weeks ago, picking up six yellow cards in the process.
It was Taylor’s seventh Champions League game in charge of PSG – and the first that Paris had lost. The French champions had won five of the previous six, with one ending in a draw.
Taylor took charge of his first BVB match in 2015, a 1-1 draw at PAOK in the Europa League. This was followed by a 4-0 win over Atletico and two 2-0 defeats against Inter and PSG