Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Atletico Madrid (agg 5-4): Marcel Sabitzer propels Germans to Champions League semi-finals.

 

Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Atletico Madrid (agg 5-4): Former Manchester United star Marcel Sabitzer sparks Germans into Champions League semi-final as they edge thriller.

Borussia Dortmund came from behind to defeat Atletico Madrid in a thriller.
Marcel Sabitzer scored a key goal late on, making it 5-4 on aggregate.

Diego Simeone sank to his knees and fell face down in his technical area. Even after 674 games in command, his Atletico Madrid club continues to surprise him.

He spoke of pain in the lead-up; he cautioned that punishment was on the way, and that Atletico, chasing their first Champions League semi-final appearance in seven years, would need to show some old-fashioned tenacity to get there.

Only it was in scarce supply around here. This was chaos. Pure chaos.
That is not Diego Simeone's style, and it is no longer the identity of Atletico Madrid. They are no longer the masters of defence. No longer an unstoppable force. They are fallible, and Dortmund made them pay.
Atletico Madrid has now gone 11 games without a clean sheet, with Jan Oblak collecting four balls from his net.

Dortmund departed Spain trailing 2-1 after the first leg, regretting a squandered chance because they had only arrived after falling behind. Julian Brandt hit the bar late in the Wanda Metropolitano, and it was still on his mind when he arrived at Signal Iduna Park.

At home, it was all about harnessing the energy of their renowned 'Yellow Wall' and commanding from the start, as youth prevailed against experience. This is how they defeated PSV Eindhoven in the previous round. Teams freeze, even experienced ones like Atletico.

The Yellow Wall was filled many hours before kickoff, as has become traditional. The away end erupted in response, but Dortmund's players understood they didn't have to do much to get their fans excited.

It should have been 1-0 and a perfect start inside four minutes when former Manchester United loanee Marcel Sabitzer was picked out five yards out with a cutback, but he took a touch and the opportunity was lost.

Seconds later, Atletico burst, rapidly turning defence into attack as they have done so frequently and successfully under Simeone, with Alvaro Morata's quickness taking him one on one. He lobbed goalie Gregor Kobel, but it went wide. Simeone was in disbelief.

Dortmund would then dominate, with Brandt, the MVP of the match, putting them ahead and leveling the tie before Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen scored his first Champions League goal five minutes later.

However, not everything went as planned for Dortmund. Perhaps that was to be expected given two teams' seasons of inconsistency.

Simeone's double replacement at halftime turned the game on its back, as a Hummels own goal and a fine finish by Angel Correa quickly had Dortmund worried about their progress.

Atletico would disintegrate, their second wind fading, as Niklas Fullkrug and Sabitzer both scored in a three-minute span. Simeone was left scratching his head.

Dortmund's official account on X tweeted,'seghjf.akdhsufhlkuweFNK'sejhgkfeksw.fguiliEGUFKilsugefg;wougEHFLiuewfgu;weliuTFYO8;wefguoeouwgtf'.

"By the way, that means we scored."

It was about as logical as the football that was on show. Entire mayhem, utter theater. It was everything. Under Simeone, Atletico Madrid has not played at its peak level.