Elmar Bergonzini
April 16, 2024 (changed at 11.26pm) – MILAN
A feat. Borussia Dortmund returns to the Champions League semi-finals eleven years after the last time. In 2013 he got there by scoring two goals in injury time against Malaga. This time he does it by again scoring two goals in three minutes (between 71′ and 74′), against another Spanish team. Atletico Madrid was beaten 4-2 and, after a 2-1 win in the first leg, was eliminated. Among the Germans, the goals from Brandt (34′), Maatsen (39′), Fullkrug (71′) and Sabitzer (74′) were decisive. Thus the goals of the Spaniards were useless as with Hummels’ own goal (49′) and Correa’s strike (64′) they had come back from 2-0 to 2-2. Dortmund, who remained unbeaten at home in this edition of the Champions League against Milan, PSG, Newcastle and PSV, achieved yet another seasonal feat. In the semi-final the challenge against PSG is again, while for Atletico the “consolation” is called the Club World Cup, with the arithmetic qualification also arriving thanks to the defeat of Barcelona.
Borussia-Atletico, first half
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Without Malen, Terzic decides to give Adeyemi an opportunity from the start. The tip of the yellow-blacks’ 4-2-3-1 is Fullkrug, who has been out of action for exactly two months and 9 matches. Simeone responds with the 3-5-2, with the usual Morata and Griezmann in attack. Dortmund, who in the first leg were intimidated by Atletico in the first part of the match, started strong in front of their fans and showed their determination to overturn the result of the first leg: in the 4th minute Sabitzer, served by Adeyemi, he wastes a sensational scoring opportunity by forgetting to kick. The pace is very high and in the 5th minute it is Morata, with a soft touch, who sends the ball just wide. Dortmund, minute by minute, becomes more and more aggressive and crushes Atletico who becomes dangerous only in the 32nd minute, when Hummels, making a mistake with a pass, effectively puts Griezmann on goal, with the Frenchman, however, surprised by the mistake of opponent is not reactive enough. In the 34th minute Borussia took the lead: served by Hummels and freed from the former Witsel, it was Brandt who surprised Oblak, who didn’t make a good impression on the occasion. The hosts continue to push and in the 39th minute they even find the second goal: this time it is Maatsen who beats Oblak with a very precise conclusion.
BORUSSIA-ATLETIC, second half
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Simeone, unhappy with his team’s passivity, tries to shake things up by taking out Morata and Molina and inserting Correa and Barrios. The changes actually seem to have the desired effect: Correa is lively and inspired and puts the Dortmund defense in serious difficulty, which capitulates in the 49th and 64th minutes: first it is Hummels, on a corner action, who throws the ball away on target alone with a careless save following a header from Hermoso. A quarter of an hour passes and Correa, who five minutes earlier had wasted a great opportunity, scores the 2-2: the Argentine breaks through on the right, serves Riquelme in the center whose shot is however blocked. The rebound favors Correa who strikes Kobel. In the most difficult moment Dortmund found the strength to react: in the 71st minute it was Sabitzer who found Fullkrug in the heart of the area; the attacker, with a header, makes it 3-2 and breaks the fast. Three minutes pass and it even makes it 4-2: Fullkrug is closed in the area but the rebound activates Sabitzer who, with his left foot, drops the poker. Atletico, surprisingly, fails to react and waits, passively, for the match to end. Dortmund manage the lead and return to the semi-finals for the first time since Klopp.
