Sancho gives Ratcliffe food for thought by making history with his scintillating Champions League SF showing

Dortmund's English midfielder #10 Jadon Sancho and Paris Saint-Germain's French forward #29 Bradley Barcola (C) vie for the ball during the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg football match between Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on May 1, 2024 in Dortmund. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP)

Jadon Sancho certainly looked back to his prolific best when Borussia Dortmund locked horns with Paris Saint-Germain last night.

It was leg one of the Champions League semi-final, with Dortmund granted their home support for the first 90 minutes of the tie – and boy, did they have their 12th man absolutely rocking from start to finish.

Niclas Füllkrug drew first blood inside 40 minutes at the Signal Iduna Park, shrugging off his man before striking home into the bottom-left corner of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s net. The 1-0 lead is now what they’ll look to either hold on or add to when they make the trip to Paris next week.

It really could’ve been more than just a goal for the Germans on the night, though, given how Sancho was running the show from the right wing. Nuno Mendes, who was deployed against the attacker, had a night to forget as he so frequently found himself left in Sancho’s dust.

Sancho in action at the Signal Iduna Park, May 1

Sancho makes history with impressive feat

As per Squaqka, the United loanee became the first-ever Englishman to record 11+ take-ons in a single Champions League match.

The last player to exceed the feat in a semi-final came in a tie the Old Trafford faithful will remember all too well, as it was by Lionel Messi against United in 2008 (16).

Of course, there is no buy clause included in Sancho’s loan terms, so he will return to his parent club upon the culmination of the 2023/2024 campaign. Reports have confirmed that from then, Dortmund will be doing everything in their power to sign him again permanently.

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