Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Atletico Madrid (agg 5-4): Former Manchester United man Marcel Sabitzer fires Germans into Champions League semi-finals as they edge thriller
Diego Simeone fell to his knees and then fell face down in his technical area. Even after 674 games, his Atletico Madrid side still find new ways to surprise him.
He warned of suffering in the build-up; he warned that punishment was on the horizon and Atletico, seeking their first Champions League semi-final in seven years, would need to show some old-fashioned resilience to get there.
Only that was in short supply here. Chaos, that’s what this was. Pure chaos.
And it’s not the Diego Simeone way; that’s not what his Atletico Madrid is anymore. No longer the champions of defense. No longer an impenetrable force. They are fallible and Dortmund made them pay.
Four times Jan Oblak was collecting the ball out of his net. Make it 11 games in a row without a clean sheet for Atletico Madrid.
Marcel Sabitzer scored the decisive goal to send Borussia Dortmund through to the semi-finals
Dortmund advance to face PSG in the last four of this season’s Champions League
Diego Simeone sank in disbelief and his resilient side crumbled in the second leg
Simeone was on the pitch in despair and his uncharacteristically fragile side was punished
Julian Brandt scored the opener for Borussia Dortmund to put the hosts ahead in Germany
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Dortmund left Spain after the first leg 2-1 down, ruing a missed chance after only emerging from falling behind. Julian Brandt hit the crossbar late on at the Wanda Metropolitano – it was still playing on his mind when he arrived at Signal Iduna Park.
At home, it was all about harnessing the energy from their famous ‘Yellow Wall’ and dictating from the start, while the youth triumphed over the experience. That’s how they overwhelmed PSV Eindhoven in the previous round. Can barely hear yourself think, teams are freezing, even those as experienced as Atletico.
Hours before kick-off, as has become customary, the yellow wall was full. The outfielder was vocal in response, but Dortmund’s players knew they needed to do something to whip their fans into a frenzy.
It should have been 1-0 and the perfect start inside four minutes when former Manchester United loanee Marcel Sabitzer was picked out five yards out with a cutback, only for him to take a touch and the chance was gone.
Seconds later, Atletico broke and quickly turned defense into attack as they have done so often and so successfully under Simeone as Alvaro Morata’s pace took him through one on one. He lobbed goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, but put it past. Simeone was in disbelief.
Dortmund would then dominate, with man of the match Brandt putting them ahead on the night and equalizing before Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen fired them ahead five minutes later with his first ever Champions League goal.
Dortmund, unheralded when the group stage was drawn and they were paired with PSG, Newcastle and AC Milan, thrive at home, now unbeaten in their last 10 Champions League games on their own patch.
Antoine Griezmann and the Atletico Madrid players applauded the traveling fans
Ian Maatsen doubled the advantage and put Dortmund ahead on aggregate in a thriller
Atletico pulled one back with Mats Hummels’ own goal offering a route back
Correa then struck home to make it 2-2 on aggregate at Signal-Iduna Park
Niclas Fullkrug (in the middle) sent the goal home for 4-4 overall tonight.
Marcel Sabitzer sparked wild scenes with a goal to put his side ahead 5-4 on aggregate
However, not everything went according to plan for Dortmund. For two sides whose seasons have been marked by inconsistency, that was perhaps to be expected.
A triple half-time substitution by Simeone turned the game, at least temporarily, on its head and a Hummels own goal and a smart finish by Angel Correa quickly saw Dortmund sweat their progress.
Atletico would crumble though, their second win fleeting as Niklas Fullkrug and Sabitzer both scored in three minutes of madness. Simeone was left scratching his head.
‘seghjf.akdhsufhlkuweFNK’sejhgkfeksw.fguiliEGUFKilsugefg;wougEHFLiuewfgu;weliuTFYO8;wefguoeouwgtf,’ tweeted Dortmund’s official account on X.
‘By the way, that means we scored.’
It made about as much sense as the football on display. Pure chaos, pure theatre. It was everything Atletico Madrid haven’t been at their best under Simeone.