Andre Breitenreiter got off to a winning start as Huddersfield boss thanks to Danny Ward’s brace from the bench, which gave the visitors a 2-1 victory after Emmanuel Dennis had opened the scoring for Watford.
The German head coach started work with the Terriers on Tuesday after being unveiled as Darren Moore’s permanent replacement the previous week, and had acknowledged at his first press conference that the relegation-threatened club were in a “dangerous” position.
Valerien Ismael’s Watford were meanwhile without a Championship win in six at Vicarage Road and desperate to generate some momentum for the final stretch of the season to prevent their faint play-off hopes from ebbing away altogether.
Huddersfield had the better of the early going, with Delano Burgzorg and Josh Koroma both unleashing goalward efforts that needed deflecting wide – and only very narrowly, in Burgzorg’s case.
Ismael evidently shared the fans’ extremely vocal frustration at his side’s inability to get out of their own half in the face of a tenacious high press, and made his first pair of substitutions as early as the 27th minute with Edo Kayembe and Ismael Kone hauled off for Giorgi Chakvetadze and former Huddersfield man Tom Ince.
That produced the desired improvement in his side’s play, and they mustered their first shot on goal just after the half-hour as Mattie Pollock headed wide from a Ken Sema corner.
Yaser Asprilla’s fabulous through ball later gave Ince the most clear-cut chance of the first half, but Lee Nicholls was equal to his first-time strike on goal.
The goalkeeper had no chance the next time Watford threatened up the right, however, with Asprilla getting the better of Brodie Spencer to get into the box before squaring for Dennis to fire Watford ahead – virtually his last action of the game as he went off injured moments later.
Watford should have put the game to bed twice within a few minutes of that opener, but neither Mileta Rajovic nor Ince capitalised on very presentable openings produced from left-wing crosses.
Huddersfield punished that by showing them how it was done in the 71st minute, with centre-back Yuta Nakayama getting forward to cross for substitute Ward to head past former team-mate Ben Hamer, despite the goalkeeper getting a touch.
Both sides wasted chances to go ahead with the score at 1-1, with Burgzorg failing to find an unmarked Ben Wiles at the end of a Huddersfield counter-attack and Ince again shooting off-target for Watford from Sema’s cross.
But Ward showed great instincts once again to finally decide the game seven minutes from time, reacting fastest to get to Tom Edwards’ low cross and flick into the far bottom corner.
PSG boss Luis Enrique expects entertainment in Champions League semi-final with Dortmund
Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund served up plenty of entertainment in the Champions League quarter-finals, and their last-eight meeting promises more of the same, says Luis Enrique.
Both sides came back from first-leg defeats to reach the semi-finals, PSG winning 4-1 in Barcelona after a 3-2 loss in the French capital and Dortmund downing Atletico Madrid 4-2 to recover from their loss in Spain.
"I think that is the way it went in the quarter-finals based on the playing style of Dortmund and the way that we play," PSG head coach Luis Enrique told a press conference.
"I think it could be a wonderful spectacle, not just for the two fan bases, but for everybody who loves football. I think there will be goals, given the quality and the ability to reach the opposition goal on both teams."
PSG had never before overturned a first-leg defeat at home in the Champions League, and while the Spaniard believes it can help his players, he also knows that history counts for little at this stage.
"I do hope it liberates us because this is something that we haven't done before after losing the first leg. I also have experience that shows how important it is to be competitive tomorrow," Luis Enrique said.
"What we achieved previously doesn't matter. History is great, but our goal is to win tomorrow. We don't want to leave it to chance and think about the second leg at the Parc des Princes."
History may weigh on the minds of PSG, too, given they have lost all four games of their previous two-legged Champions League semi-final ties – against Milan in 1994-95 and Manchester City in 2020-21.
The Parisians did win their one-legged last-four meeting with RB Leipzig in the disrupted 2019-20 season, though, while Dortmund have reached the final on two of their three semi-final appearances.
Dortmund and PSG have already met in this season's competition as well, with the German side topping their group, but PSG beat them at Parc des Princes and managed a 1-1 draw in the away meeting.
Luis Enrique thinks his team, who secured their third consecutive Ligue 1 title on Sunday, have improved since then – and suggested there is even more to come.
"We have improved in all areas. We are better defensively, better going forward," the former Barcelona boss continued.
"We can keep improving for sure. And that is one of the characteristics of our way of managing the club and the team, by trying to be demanding, not thinking that everything is done."
PSG appear favourites to go through given Dortmund have only won one of their six meetings with the French side in all competitions (D3 L2).
Dortmund overcame PSG 2-1 in the first leg of the 2019-20 Champions League round of 16 before being eliminated 3-2 on aggregate, and Luis Enrique expects another difficult task on Wednesday.
"That shows that the press doesn't know much about football," he joked ahead of the first meeting at Signal Iduna Park.
"I have said that for a long time. What is great about being here is enjoying a really special game at a unique stadium in Europe and having the chance to make our fans really happy by reaching the final."
A tough challenge awaits for PSG, however, considering Dortmund are unbeaten in their last 10 Champions League home games (W6 D4), their longest-ever such run in the competition.
Courtois ruled out of Euro 2024 despite Real Madrid return
Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has been ruled out of Euro 2024 by Domenico Tedesco, despite making a return to the Real Madrid squad.
The 31-year-old has missed the entire season, and after a setback in March, needed another knee operation.
Carlo Ancelotti said he hoped to have the goalkeeper back for their LaLiga match against Cadiz at the weekend, but has been able to name him on the bench for their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Despite Courtois making a return to action before the squads have to be named, Tedesco was clear that he would not be chosen.
Speaking to German media on Tuesday, he said: “On this topic, everything has already been said. I don't want a tit-for-tat situation.
"We are focusing on players who are in good shape."
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
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