Atalanta BC produced a stunning late comeback to eliminate Borussia Dortmund from the UEFA Champions League, sealing a 4-1 victory on the night and a 4-3 aggregate triumph in dramatic fashion at the New Balance Arena.
Trailing by two goals from the first leg, La Dea wasted no time in igniting belief in Bergamo.
Inside five minutes, the deficit was halved after Lorenzo Bernasconi’s delivery found Gianluca Scamacca via a deflection off Ramy Bensebaini, allowing the striker to finish from close range.
Nicola Zalewski was instrumental in Atalanta’s early dominance, twice forcing sharp saves from Gregor Kobel and narrowly missing the target with a curling effort.
Dortmund gradually steadied themselves as the half progressed, with Serhou Guirassy heading wide and Julian Brandt testing Marco Carnesecchi.
However, just before the break, fortune smiled on the hosts. Davide Zappacosta’s strike took a decisive deflection off Bensebaini, wrong-footing Kobel and giving Atalanta a 2-0 lead on the night.
The second half unfolded at a frantic pace. Mario Pasalic was denied from close range, while Maximilian Beier struck the post when through on goal.
Dortmund were left to rue that miss as Pasalic soon powered home a glancing header from Marten de Roon’s inswinging cross to swing the tie in Atalanta’s favour.
Dortmund boss Niko Kovac responded with a raft of changes, and the adjustments briefly paid off. After Guirassy squandered a golden opportunity, substitutes Karim Adeyemi and Carney Chukwuemeka combined brilliantly, with Adeyemi curling a superb equaliser into the top corner to level the aggregate score and set up a tense finale.
Just as extra time loomed, controversy struck. Kobel lost possession outside his area, sparking a final Atalanta surge.
His attempted recovery touch inadvertently set up Nikola Krstovic, and although Bensebaini cleared the immediate danger, he caught the forward in the follow-through. Following a VAR review, a penalty was awarded and Bensebaini was shown a red card.
Lazar Samardzic stepped up and calmly converted with the last kick of the contest, sealing a famous comeback.
The drama deepened as Nico Schlotterbeck was also dismissed from the bench, compounding Dortmund’s misery.
For Atalanta, the victory ended a three-match losing run in Europe’s elite competition and secured a place in the round of 16, where they will now await a showdown against either Bayern Munich or Arsenal.
