Paris Saint-Germain 0-1 Wolfsburg: Janssen penalty the difference

Wolfsburg will defend a 1-0 UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final lead at home to Paris Saint-Germain next Thursday thanks to Dominique Janssen's penalty just past the hour.

Paris had the better of the play in the first hour, but the game turned when Élisa de Almeida was penalised for handball in the box and received a second yellow card, with Janssen then making no mistake from the spot.

Match in brief: Paris pay penalty

There was no way past Merle Frohms for ParisUEFA via Getty Images

There was a surprise before kick-off as Lena Oberdorf was named in the Wolfsburg XI despite a weekend injury that had initially looked serious.

Paris started brightly without prising open the visiting defence, but on 35 minutes former Wolfsburg player Ramona Bachmann slalomed into the German side's box, forcing Merle Frohms to block her shot. Kadidiatou Diani then headed Sandy Baltimore's cross just wide as Wolfsburg kept the game goalless before half-time.

They fared even better after the break, with Paris defender De Almeida sanctioned for handball just beyond the hour mark and sent off for her second bookable offence. Dominique Janssen stepped forward to convert the subsequent spot kick and secure the visitors a 1-0 lead in the tie.

Dominique Janssen receives her Player of the Match awardUEFA via Getty Images

Visa Player of the Match: Dominique Janssen (Wolfsburg)

"Solid, composed and communicated throughout to lead Wolfsburg to a clean sheet. Stepped up to convert the penalty under pressure to give her team the win."
UEFA Technical Observer panel

Andrew Scott, Paris reporter

A disappointing night for Paris, who would have been so desperate to make the most of having home advantage and a big crowd behind them at the Parc des Princes. They perhaps shaded the game until Wolfsburg scored, albeit without creating too many chances. A goal and player down, their job became so much harder and now they will have to regroup and go again in next week's return leg to keep their Champions League dream alive.

Former Frauen-Bundesliga duo Jackie Groenen and Ramona Bachmann face a stiff task in Germany next weekUEFA via Getty Images

Anna Sophia Vollmerhausen, Wolfsburg reporter

The She-Wolves take a welcome but narrow advantage into the second leg in Germany courtesy of Janssen's well-taken penalty. They weren't at their best but they've done enough to put themselves in a solid position. Head coach Tommy Stroot said before this game that he didn't expect the tie to be decided in the first leg, and at 1-0 it's still very much anyone's game.

Reaction

Tommy Stroot, Wolfsburg coach: "It was the hard-fought first leg I expected. We knew this game wouldn't decide the tie but we wanted to make sure that we could start from a good position in Wolfsburg, and we succeeded. There weren't any great chances for either side – it's the small details that decide such games. It's tough and very close, but that's how it is in the quarter-finals of the Champions League."

Dominique Janssen, Wolfsburg defender and Player of the Match: "As a team, we worked really hard. There are lots of things to improve, but it has also been a while since we played at this level. In all the quarter-finals you can see that it is becoming a more and more tactical game, and there are just little moments that decide the game – that is what happens at the top level."

Lena Oberdorf, Wolfsburg midfielder: "We have that goal to reach the final, and for that we have to step up a bit more when we have possession. We will continue working on ourselves and as a team, but the effort was there and with this mentality you can go far."

Gérard Prêcheur, Paris coach: "I asked the players to win the game mentally and tactically and they did it, so hats off to the team. That is all positive. When you see that with ten players we made Wolfsburg look weak, that shows how much we were on top. Of course, not everything was perfect. We could have taken some of the chances we had in the first half, but the overall assessment is positive."

Jackie Groenen, Paris midfielder: "We were creating chances, especially in the first half, but it gets harder if you are down to ten that early on. Maybe we could have scored one or two in the first half and that could have made the difference."

Key stats

• All three matches between these teams in Europe have now ended in away wins, following both legs of the 2014/15 semi-finals when Paris prevailed 2-0 at Wolfsburg then lost 2-1 at home.
• Wolfsburg's Jill Roord made her 50th European appearance.
• The only other time Paris lost a first leg at home in this competition, they went on to win the tie: against Lyon in the 2020/21 quarter-finals.
• Wolfsburg have never gone out in Europe after winning the first leg of a knockout tie.
• Wolfsburg are playing in a record 11th consecutive quarter-final.

Line-ups

Paris: Bouhaddi; Lawrence, De Almeida, Geyoro, Karchaoui; Hamraoui, Jean-François, Bachmann (Fazer 66); Groenen, Diani, Baltimore (Vangsgaard 66)

Wolfsburg: Frohms; Hendrich, Hegering, Janssen, Rauch; Oberdorf (Jónsdóttir 79), Lattwein; Huth, Roord (Brand 73), Popp; Pajor (Bremer 89)