La Liga teams won 2 wins and 1 draw in the first leg of the Champions League knockout round, and Atletico Madrid, who had no hope of winning the league title, beat Dortmund by a small goal in the first leg to take the lead. In the second leg, the two sides contributed a wonderful goal battle, Blanco and Maatsen scored two goals each in the first half, Hummels scored an own goal in the second half, Correa took the lead again, and then Sabitzer stepped up, first assisted Phil Kruger, and scored the winning goal himself, Dortmund won 4-2, and reached the last eight with an aggregate score of 5-4.
After the last round of the Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen won the championship five rounds in advance, and Dort trailed the pharmaceutical company by as many as 23 points, but fortunately, the Hornets have not lost the initiative in the race for a Champions League place. The Hornets returned home to a 4-2-3-1: Kerber stood in front of goal, Ryerson, Hummels, Schlotterbeck and Matsen led the backline, Emre Can and Sabitzer joined forces in the middle, and Brandt, Sancho, Adeyemi and Phil Kruger formed the attacking line.
Simeone continued his 3-5-2 line-up: goalkeeper Oblak, Jimenez, Hermoso and Witsel formed a back three, Molina, Marcos Llorente, Koke, De Paul and Cesar Azpilicueta lined up in midfield, and Morata and Griezmann attacked in attack.
Because of the loss of the first leg, Dort who returned to the home field immediately launched an offensive after the opening, in the 4th minute, Sabitzer's rush in front of the goal was blocked; in the 18th minute, Adeyemi volleyed at the back point, Oblak confiscated the ball steadily; in the 26th minute, Sabitzer tried a long shot from the periphery, the ball was high above the crossbar; under Dort's continuous attack, Atletico Madrid could only defend passively many times, which gave the defense a huge pressure, and the probability of conceding the ball is increasing step by step.
Sure enough, the game came to the 34th minute, Hummels' outside instep cross was sent to the penalty area, Brandt unloaded the ball in front of the bottom line to get rid of Witsel's small angle burst, the ball hit Oblak's leg and refracted into the net, 1:0! The two sides came to 2:2 on aggregate! In the 39th minute, Dort continued to make a fuss on the left side, Sabitzer protected the ball in the penalty area and received the ball back, Matsen shook the Koke defense with a low shot and scored another goal, 2:0! Dort scored 2 goals in 5 minutes, directly reversed the total score, 3:2!
In the second half, Simeone decisively took the lead in substitutions, Correa and Riquelme came on as substitutes, and Atletico Madrid finally responded, in the 49th minute, Griezmann took a corner kick, Hermoso headed the goal in front of the goal, Hummels accidentally put himself on an own goal, 2:1! The aggregate score was 3:3, and the two sides drew again. In the 65th minute, Correa held the ball in the penalty area to get rid of Schlotterbeck's defense and crossed, Riquelme's volley at the back point was blocked, Correa made up 2 shots in front of the goal or penetrated Kerber's goal, 2:2! Simeone's substitution adjustment worked wonders, and Atletico Madrid had a 4:3 lead on aggregate.
However, this did not disrupt Dort's rhythm, but aroused their morale; in the 71st minute, Brandt went straight to the left, Sabitzer inserted a cross, Phil Kruger shook his head in front of the goal, 3:2, the total score is 4:4! Sabitzer scored in both legs, and this game was a direct reversal of the situation with one shot and two passes.
In the 80th minute, Phil Kruger pushed a half-single chance, but this time it was blocked by Oblak, and in the 86th minute, the hot Sabitzer made another long-range shot at the top of the arc, and Oblak successfully saved the ball with one palm, but Dort still held on to the one-goal advantage, and the aggregate score was 5:4 to break into the top 8, the Hornets will face Paris in the semi-finals, and Atletico Madrid confirmed that the season is empty.