PSG up against Die Gelbe Wand

PACKED with passionate home fans, Borussia Dortmund’s imposing south stand – dubbed “The Yellow Wall” – is the “gigantic monster” lurking to test Paris Saint-Germain stars like Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in the Champions League on Wednesday (4am Malaysian time).

“It’s just a fantastic feeling that I haven’t had before,” is how Dortmund’s star striker Erling Braut Haaland described scoring in front of Die Gelbe Wand (The Yellow Wall) at Signal Iduna Park.

The 19-year-old has bagged nine goals since Dortmund snapped him up for €20 million euros (RM90m) from Salzburg. Five of them have come in his three home appearances games, including one in the 4-0 thrashing of Frankfurt on Friday.

“If you are the opposition, it crushes you – but if you have her at your back as a goalkeeper, it’s a fantastic feeling,” is how exDortmund shot-stopper Roman Weidenfeller describes the experience of the imposing terrace.

For Bundesliga games, the south stand, which is 100m wide and 40m high, is packed with 25,000 fans, but capacity is reduced to 16,000 to meet UEFA regulations for Champions League games.

Nevertheless, the noise will be deafening when the Dortmund team walk out for the last 16, first leg tie.

On the run to the 2013 Champions

League final, where Dortmund lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich at Wembley, the wall played a key role in the quarter-final at home to Malaga, when the hosts found themselves 21 down with 90 minutes on the clock.

With Dortmund seconds from elimination, the fans erupted, inspiring tired legs to one last push.

Pandemonium broke out when forward Marco Reus, then defender Felipe Santana grabbed goals in added time to seal a fairytale 3-2 win after a goalless first leg in Spain.

The delirious scenes at the final whistle are part of club folklore.

“I don’t think it’s something you can really grasp unless you’re experienced it yourself. It was unbelievable,” said defender Mats Hummels.

Former Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp explained what the PSG team can expect on Wednesday.

“You come out and the stadium explodes… you look to your left and it looks like 150,000 people are standing there going crazy,” said Klopp, who led Dortmund to back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012. – AFP