In the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday (16th) night, Dortmund and Atletico Madrid played a wonderful match. Borussia Dortmund lost 2-1 in the first game and scored two goals at home in the second leg to put the lead on aggregate, but Atletico Madrid scored two more goals in the second half to regain the lead. Entering the final stages of the game, Dortmund scored two goals in a row, defeated Atletico Madrid 4-2 in this game, won 5-4 in the two games, and advanced to the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in 11 years, and will face Paris Saint-Germain.
Dortmund came back and down to win this game, and the biggest contributor is believed to be Austrian midfielder Marcel Sabitzer, who provided two assists and scored the winning goal for promotion. Julian Brandt, who was voted the best player by the UEFA Football Federation this time, also said bluntly after the game that Marcel Sabitzer is their most important player. The 30-year-old joined Borussia Dortmund this season and has scored six goals and provided eight assists in 34 appearances.
Borussia Dortmund opened the scoring in the 34th minute through Brandt to make it 2-2 over two legs. By the 39th minute, Dortmund organized on the left, Marcel Sabitzer passed back diagonally, and left-back Ian Maatsen went into the penalty area and scored in a narrow position, leading 2-0 and leading 3-2 on aggregate.
In the second half, Atletico Madrid made three substitutions in one go, and it quickly worked. In the 49th minute, Atletico Madrid took a corner kick, defender Mario Hermoso headed a hammer, and Dortmund defender Hummels stretched out his foot to clear the ball and reluctantly kicked the ball into his own goal. In the 64th minute, substitute Angel Correa sent a difficult cross from the right, and another substitute, Rodrigo Riquelme, had a long-range shot saved, and Angel Correa arrived at the first time to shoot and was blocked by Dortmund's Great Wall of Flesh, and Angel Correa scored with his foot. Atletico Madrid are 2-2 and take a 4-3 lead over two legs.
At this time, Marcel Sabitzer became the key man in Dortmund's comeback. In the 71st minute, he received a pass from his teammate, ran to the near baseline, and crossed from the left, just right, Niklas Philkrueger headed it into the net at the middle post, Dortmund led 3-2 in this game, and chased it to 4-4 over two legs.
Three minutes later, Dortmund battled in front, the ball fell to the feet of Marcel Sabitzer at the top of the penalty area, he pushed to get rid of the opponent, found an open space, broke into the box, and fired a left-footed shot into the net, helping Dortmund win 4-2 and beat Atletico Madrid 5-4 on aggregate to advance.
Marcel Sabitzer was directly involved in three of Dortmund's four goals in the second leg of this game. Marcel Sabitzer was not reused at Bayern Munich last season and spent the second half of the season on loan at Manchester United, where he was lackluster and failed to convince manager Erik ten Hag to keep him. Marcel Sabitzer switched to Borussia Dortmund last summer and played this game, providing two assists and scoring the winning goal.
Marcel Sabitzer has been in fine form of late, scoring twice in the league as Borussia Dortmund won 2-1 at Borussia Mönchengladbach. The 30-year-old Austrian midfielder has made 34 appearances for Borussia Dortmund this season, scoring six goals and providing eight assists.
Julian Brandt, who scored one goal in the game, was voted by the UEFA as the best player of the match, but he believes Marcel Sabitzer deserves the award even more. "It was a crazy game for the fans and for us," he said. I'm very happy to receive this award, but I think Marcel Sabitzer is the most important person for us at this time. ”
As for the semi-finals against Paris Saint-Germain, he said it would be a fierce battle, Brandt said: "In the group stage, we played well against them at home, but we played average away from home. We want to play better and, of course, to get to the final. ”