Borussia Dortmund reached their first Champions League semi-final in 11 years after claiming a 5-4 aggregate victory over Atletico Madrid.
After losing the first leg 2-1 in Madrid, Dortmund promptly turned the score around in the first half, with goals from Ian Maatsen, on loan from Chelsea, and Julian Brandt.
However, just after the restart, Mario Hermoso’s header deflected in off Matts Hummels, a defender for Dortmund, to give Atletico Madrid the advantage 2-1 on the night and 3-3 overall.
In the 64th minute, Angel Correa scored a rebounding finish from close range to give Atletico Madrid a 4-3 aggregate lead.
However, Niclas Fullkrug’s looping header from Marcel Sabitzer’s cross brought Dortmund level once more in an exciting second half. This happened after 71 minutes.
And to cap off an incredible quarter-final match, Sabitzer scored Dortmund’s winner with a drilled finish into the bottom corner less than three minutes later.
Dortmund had not advanced past the semifinals of the Champions League since their 2012–13 second-place finish.
Only four times have the German club progressed past the quarter-finals.
Given that they were trailing 2-0 in the first leg in Madrid and had faded from contention at the break, their accomplishment is all the more amazing.
However, in Germany, they were merciless. They got off to a fast start and came close to taking the lead via Sabitzer, but Cesar Azpilicueta, a former Chelsea defender, stopped his attempt on the line.
Alvaro Morata, the striker for Atletico, had a great early chance of his own, but he dinked the ball off target while through on goal.
Additionally, Correa missed a chance to give his team a 3-2 aggregate lead in the second half.
However, Dortmund came out on top in the end and had more opportunities if Atletico goalie Jan Oblak hadn’t made two outstanding stops in the closing moments to save Fullkrug and Sabitzer.
For the first time since falling short 4-1 against rival Real Madrid in the 2014 championship game, Atletico gave up four goals in a Champions League knockout match. It has now taken Diego Simeone’s team seven years to advance to Europe’s top competition’s final four.
Photo by EPA/FRIEDEMANN VOGEL
