Atalanta booked their place within the Champions League final 16 in astonishing trend – scoring a final–gasp penalty to knock out Borussia Dortmund after one in every of their gamers was booted within the face.
In a rare closing jiffy in Bergamo that noticed referee Jose Martinez ship off Dortmund star Ramy Bensebaini for the foul, Lazar Samardzic stepped up and rifled his penalty into the highest nook with the final kick of the sport.
Seemingly livid on the dismissal of his staff–mate, defender Nico Schlotterbeck – who didn’t come off the bench within the tie – was proven pink alongside substituted Atalanta star Giorgio Scalvini through the chaos.
Samardzic’s objective put the Italians 4–1 up – and 4–3 on combination – within the eighth minute of second–half harm time on Wednesday night, securing a dramatic turnaround after their defeat in Dortmund final week.
There was seen concern contained in the stadium after Bensebaini’s boot linked with the face of Atalanta ahead Nikola Krstovic, leaving him coated in blood and requiring pressing medical therapy.
However the Montenegrin bought again to his ft in sufficient time to rejoice Atalanta’s sensational winner, which is able to assure the Serie A outfit a crunch match in opposition to Arsenal or Bayern Munich within the subsequent spherical.
Atalanta have been awarded a late penalty after Dortmund defender Ramy Bensebaini’s boot linked with the face of Nikola Krstovic
Krstovic was left on a heap within the floor, coated in blood and requiring medical consideration
Lazar Samardzic scored the late penalty to knock Dortmund out of the Champions League
‘Everybody had written us off, however this match confirmed as soon as once more how robust this group is,’ mentioned man–of–the–match Davide Zappacosta. ‘We all the time consider and we by no means hand over.’
‘Being the underdog provides you additional motivation. You attempt to transcend your limits to show issues round, and we knew we may do it. It was very troublesome, however we have proven many instances how robust we’re at house,’ he added.
A lot of the discourse heading into the tie targeted on the prospect {that a} defeat for Atalanta would imply no Italian membership had reached the Champions League final 16 for the primary time because the 1987–88 season.
With Raffaele Palladino’s aspect dropping 2–0 within the reverse fixture on the Sign Iduna Park final Tuesday, the duty was troublesome however removed from insurmountable.
And when former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca put Nerazzurri 1–0 up throughout the first 5 minutes, earlier than the lead was added to by ex–Chelsea defender Zappacosta, Atalanta had levelled the affair very quickly.
They have been even three objectives to the nice due to a Mario Pasalic strike however Dortmund weren’t content material to make this a simple affair, and pulled one again after 75 minutes via Karim Adeyemi.
However the chaotic closing jiffy – and Samardzic’s cool composure to fit the ball house from 12 yards – stored the Italian report intact.
The outcome additionally makes Atalanta the primary aspect since Liverpool to overturn a two–objective deficit within the first–leg of a Champions League tie. The Reds achieved the identical combination rating with a well-known 4–0 win over Barcelona after trailing 3–0 in Could 2019.
