Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden scored as Manchester City came from behind to defeat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in Wednesday’s second leg and book a blockbuster Champions League semi-final clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
Trailing 2-1 from last week’s first leg, Jude Bellingham curled hosts Dortmund ahead on away goals but City hit back through a Mahrez penalty and Foden’s strike to advance 4-2 on aggregate.
Jude Bellingham became the second-youngest scorer in the history of the Champions League knockout stages with the opening goal in Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg with Manchester City.
Englishman Bellingham, who is 17 years and 289 days old, curled a superb 15th-minute strike into the top corner in Dortmund to level the tie 2-2 on aggregate and put the Germans ahead on away goals.
Only one younger player has netted in a Champions League knockout tie — Bojan Krkic, who scored for Barcelona against Schalke in April 2008 aged 17 years and 218 days.
Bellingham had scored his first Bundesliga goal for Dortmund in their 3-2 win at Stuttgart on Saturday.
He signed for Dortmund in the close season for 26 million euros ($30 million) after impressing for English Championship side Birmingham City last campaign.
Dortmund will face Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals if they hold on to beat Pep Guardiola’s City.
Erling Braut Haaland scored twice as Borussia Dortmund held off a late Sevilla fightback to reach the Champions League quarter-finals with a ‘crazy, amazing’ 5-4 aggregate win after a frantic 2-2 second-leg draw on Tuesday.
Haaland, who also netted a double in Dortmund’s 3-2 last 16 first-leg victory, tapped in a first-half opener and scored a retaken penalty after the break behind closed doors at Signal Iduna Park.
“It was a hard game –- I’m tired now, but to be in the next round feels very good,” Haaland told Sky.
“It was a crazy game and a crazy, amazing win.”
Sevilla forward Youssef En-Nesyri scored a 69th-minute spot-kick and a last-gasp equaliser but Dortmund clung on.
“We’re not happy with the result. Truth is, we didn’t have any luck –- they had one chance and they scored,” En-Nesyri told Movistar.
Haaland, the man of the match, is the competition’s top-scorer this season with 10 goals in six games.
The 20-year-old is the youngest player to reach 20 Champions League goals, in just 14 appearances, breaking the previous mark set by Kylian Mbappe.
“We have been punished by a player (Haaland) who will make his mark on this era,” predicted Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui.
Although they had lost three of their four previous games, Sevilla dominated the opening exchanges and Dortmund had to withstand intense early pressure before taking the lead against the run of play.
When the Spaniards lost possession in their own half, Dortmund midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud slipped a pass to Marco Reus, who sprinted to reach the ball at the byline and Haaland diverted in his cut-back.
He had the ball in the net again just after the interval, but the goal was disallowed after the referee decided Haaland had fouled Sevilla defender Fernando before firing home from a tight angle after consulting the pitchside monitor.
However, the referee also awarded a penalty after spotting a foul on Haaland earlier in the build-up.
Reus, Dortmund’s usual penalty taker, stepped aside to allow Haaland to take the spot-kick.
Although his first effort was tipped onto the post by Yassine Bounou, the Sevilla goalkeeper moved before the kick was taken and Haaland made no mistake with his second attempt.
Both Haaland and Sevilla midfielder Joan Jordan were booked for some pushing and shoving, with the La Liga side angered by Haaland’s celebrations.
“I missed the first penalty, but if he’d stood on the line I’d have scored, but he cheated,” added Haaland.
“I was a little bit nervous on the second penalty, but I knew it would be nice to score a second goal.”
Dortmund defender Emre Can also earned a yellow card and gave away a penalty for a blatant push on Sevilla forward Luuk de Jong, which Morocco striker En-Nesyri blasted home.
With five minutes left, Bounou produced a stunning reflex save from Dahoud’s shot in the area.
However, Sevilla were not finished and En-Nesyri netted again with a powerful header just before the final whistle as Dortmund weathered a late storm.
“It was a turbulent game,” said Dortmund caretaker coach Edin Terzic.
“It’s not a given for us to get this far, so now to be among the best eight in Europe makes us very happy. Erling Haaland was just outstanding.”
AFP
Full-back Thomas Meunier could still play in the latter stages of this season’s Champions League for Paris Saint-Germain despite signing for Borussia Dortmund, the Bundesliga club’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said on Sunday.
Belgian international Meunier has signed a four-year deal with Dortmund and will join on a free transfer after the end of his PSG contract at the end of this month.
“We told him, ‘If you want to play in the Champions League, it’s OK for us’,” Watzke told Sport1.
“The quarter-finals of the Champions League is a hell of a level of football.
“If he wishes, we will have to negotiate the details with Paris. He is still thinking and we will try to resolve this matter with Paris.”
PSG beat Dortmund 3-2 on aggregate in the last 16 to reach the quarter-finals before the coronavirus lockdown, with the Champions League set to be concluded with a ‘final eight’ tournament in Lisbon in August.
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The Ligue 1 champions also have French Cup and French League Cup finals to play at the end of July.
Meunier originally opted not to extend his PSG contract by a few weeks in order to join Dortmund, who finished a distant second in the Bundesliga this term behind Bayern Munich.
AFP
Norwegian sensation Erling Braut Haaland stole the limelight Saturday as the German Bundesliga became the first major European football league to return since the coronavirus lockdown, with teams playing in empty, echoing stadiums.
The 19-year-old striker claimed the first goal in Germany’s top flight for over two months to set Borussia Dortmund on the way to a 4-0 win over local rivals Schalke.
“There was no noise. You shoot at the goal, make a top pass, score a goal, and nothing happens,” said Dortmund coach Lucien Favre.
“That’s very, very strange. We really missed our fans.
“It’s hard to judge how good the game was, but the players were very focused.”
Winger Raphael Guerreiro added two goals for Dortmund either side of a Thorgan Hazard strike.
Second-placed Dortmund moved to within a point of leaders Bayern Munich, who are chasing an eighth straight title and play Union Berlin away on Sunday.
Haaland steered a low Hazard cross into the far corner on 29 minutes to claim his 10th goal in just nine Bundesliga matches.
It was his 41st goal this season in all competitions and his 13th for Dortmund in just 12 games since joining in January from Red Bull Salzburg.
Haaland celebrated by dancing alone — making no contact with team-mates, who clapped him on — to comply with the strict hygiene guidelines which allowed the league to return.
All matches are being played behind closed doors, with no more than 300 people permitted inside stadiums.
Normally, Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park would be packed with more than 80,000 fans for the Ruhr derby, one of the biggest fixtures in German football.
After Haaland’s opener, an error by Schalke goalkeeper Markus Schubert led to Guerreiro making it 2-0 before half-time.
Haaland then played a role in the build-up to the third goal before Julian Brandt set up Hazard to fire home on 48 minutes.
Guerreiro grabbed his second in style after a one-two with Haaland in the 63rd minute.
Borussia Moenchengladbach climbed to third with a 3-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt after scoring goals through Alassane Plea and Marcus Thuram in the opening seven minutes.
Algeria defender Ramy Bensebaini converted a second-half penalty for Gladbach before replacement midfielder Andre Silva grabbed Frankfurt’s late consolation goal.
Gladbach are three points behind leaders Bayern.
RB Leipzig dropped to fourth after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Freiburg.
Defender Manuel Gulde gave visitors Freiburg a shock lead and celebrated by elbow-bumping teammates, before Leipzig striker Yussuf Poulsen grabbed a late equaliser.
Freiburg were then denied a stoppage-time winner when a VAR check spotted an offside.
Bruno Labbadia, who was named as Jurgen Klinsmann’s replacement during the lockdown, made a winning start as Hertha Berlin coach with a 3-0 success at Hoffenheim.
The goals came in quick succession with a Kevin Akpoguma own-goal being followed by Hertha captain Vedad Ibisevic grabbing a second. Brazilian Matheus Cunha then made it 3-0.
In contrast to elsewhere, Hertha players celebrated their goals by hugging each other, flouting the league’s hygiene guidelines, but Labbadia defended his team.
“The fact is that this is part of football, he said. “We’ve been tested so many times that we can allow it.
“If you can’t celebrate anymore, the whole thing breaks down. I’m just glad that the team had reason to cheer today.”
A German Football League (DFL) spokesman confirmed there will be no punishment, as it had only offered “guidelines” on how goals should be celebrated.
In order to obtain the political green light to resume this weekend, the DFL has tested players and coaches regularly for the virus and teams have been in quarantine for the past week.
Teams arrived at stadiums in several buses in order to meet social distancing requirements inside vehicles.
Although Germany has suffered far fewer deaths from coronavirus than other large European countries, it is still too dangerous for crowds to return.
The DFL has made no secret of the fact that several clubs are in a dire financial situation as a result of the lockdown.
If they are able to complete the nine remaining rounds of matches by June 30, clubs could receive around 300 million euros ($324 million) from television contracts.
Clubs in England, Spain and Italy, where leagues are weeks away from returning, are watching to see how the weekend goes.
The Bundesliga has been expecting millions of extra fans to watch coverage worldwide.
In Germany, there were concerns that fans would try to approach stadiums to support their teams from afar. Police in Dortmund appealed to fans to stay at home and broadcaster Sky reported it was quiet outside the ground.
Some players and coaches have already fallen foul of the rules.
Augsburg’s new coach Heiko Herrlich ruled himself out of his side’s 2-1 home defeat against Wolfsburg after leaving the team hotel to buy toothpaste.
While Herrlich was criticised, there was sympathy for Union coach Urs Fischer after he broke quarantine following a family bereavement.
It means he must miss his side’s clash with Bayern.
Erling Braut Haaland scored his 40th goal of the season as the teenager continued his phenomenal scoring streak in Borussia Dortmund’s 2-0 win at Werder Bremen on Saturday.
The 19-year-old flicked home a second-half cross to score his 12th goal in eight games for Dortmund as Lucien Favre’s side moved second in the Bundesliga, four points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
Haaland, who scored twice in Tuesday’s Champions League last 16, first-leg win over Paris Saint-Germain, also netted 28 goals for Salzburg before joining Dortmund for 20 million euros ($22 million) in December.
Dortmund ground out victory after showing some early nerves in Bremen where they crashed to a 3-2 German Cup defeat earlier this month.
Centre-back Dan-Axel Zagadou gave the visitors the lead by volleying home a Jadon Sancho corner on 52 minutes.
Haaland doubled the advantage by drilling Achraf Hakimi’s square ball into the corner on 66 minutes to score his ninth Bundesliga goal.
After five straight league defeats, Bremen remain 17th and five points from safety.
They suffered another blow in the relegation battle as Fortuna Duesseldorf, who are a place above them, enjoyed a 2-0 win at Freiburg.
Dortmund climbed above RB Leipzig on goal difference.
Julian Nagelsmann’s Leipzig can move back to within one point of Bayern, who beat bottom side Paderborn 3-2 on Friday, when they visit Schalke later on Saturday.
Fourth-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach slipped six points behind Bayern, albeit with a game in hand, as Lucas Ribeiro’s injury-time strike snatched Hoffenheim a 1-1 draw at Borussia Park.
Matthias Ginter had powered in an early opener for Gladbach, but the hosts were made to pay after Alassane Plea saw a 75th-minute penalty saved by Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.
Despite splashing out 77 million euros ($83 million) on transfers in January, Hertha Berlin’s poor form continued in a 5-0 thrashing at home to Cologne.
Hertha were brought crashing back down to earth after Alexander Nouri won his first game in charge following Jurgen Klinsmann’s shock resignation last weekend at Paderborn.
The home side defended woefully and were 2-0 down inside 22 minutes as Jhon Cordoba scored an early double.
The Colombian striker exploited a four-on-two situation for his first goal and easily escaped his marker to head in the second.
Midfielder Florian Kanz added two goals of his own before Mark Uth curled home a free-kick 20 minutes from time as Hertha capitulated.
AFP
Neymar has criticised Paris Saint-Germain’s handling of his recent injury after scoring in the 2-1 defeat at Borussia Dortmund, which leaves the French club facing the prospect of another early Champions League exit.
After missing four games in the last fortnight with a rib injury, the Brazilian superstar looked short of match fitness in Tuesday’s last-16, first-leg, defeat at Dortmund.
Norwegian goal-machine Erling Braut Haaland scored twice to make him the Champions League joint top-scorer, but Neymar gave PSG a lifeline for the second leg in Paris on March 11.
He tapped home for what could prove a crucial away goal after being set up by France striker Kylian Mbappe in the second half.
READ ALSO: PSG Still ‘Dangerous’, Warns Record-Breaker Haaland
Neymar, the world’s most expensive player, was critical of the French league champions for not letting him play more before Tuesday’s clash.
“It’s hard to go four games without playing,” said Neymar.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t my choice, it was the choice of the club, of the doctors, they made that decision, which I didn’t like.
“We had a lot of discussions about it because I wanted to play, I felt good, but the club was afraid and in the end it was me who suffered.”
Big-spending PSG are desperate to avoid exiting the Champions League at the first knockout round for a fourth season in a row.
“It was a tough game, but we have to do what we can in the return game,” Neymar, 28, told reporters.
“Playing now at home is the best thing in the world, we have 90 minutes to do something.
Teenage record-breaker Erling Braut Haaland warned Borussia Dortmund still have it all to do to reach the Champions League quarter-finals even after his two goals sank Neymar’s Paris Saint-Germain.
Haaland netted either side of a Neymar equaliser on Tuesday as the Brazilian superstar scored on his return from injury as the French champions crashed to a 2-1 defeat at Dortmund in the last 16, first leg, tie.
“We want to go through, it’s going to be a hard game,” Haaland said of the return leg in Paris on March 11, “but we are a good team.
“The result is quite a dangerous one, as Paris has a very strong team and can still go through in the return leg.”
Haaland’s team-mate Emre Can, who alongside Axel Witsel worked tirelessly in Dortmund’s midfield to contain Neymar and France striker Kylian Mbappe, said the home side’s defence had been key.
“It was a big statement from the team how we defended today. We know it’s not over — it’s just half-time,” said Can, whose permanent transfer from Juventus was confirmed Tuesday.
However, the night belonged Haaland who has 11 goals in his first seven games for Dortmund and warned there is more to come.
“I feel like I still can do a lot better,” said Haaland.
“I have to work hard to improve to play better at this level.”
Having also scored eight goals for Salzburg in the group stages before his 20 million-euro ($22 million) transfer to Dortmund, Haaland made Champions League history on Tuesday.
His tally of 10 goals in his first seven Champions League matches is now a new record in the competition and makes him the joint top-scorer alongside Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski.
The teenage goal-machine has so far scored 39 times in 29 games this season for Salzburg and Dortmund.
The 19-year-old had already sent records tumbling since arriving in Dortmund last month when he became the first player to score a hat-trick off the bench on his Bundesliga debut.
His incredible strike for his second goal on Tuesday overshadowed Neymar’s return from a rib injury with PSG desperate to break their last 16 jinx having exited at this stage in the competition in each of the last three seasons.
Paris defender Marquinhos said Neymar’s away goal could prove crucial in the home leg.
“We weren’t intense enough with or without the ball and did a lot of things badly, however the goal we got is important for the second leg,” he said.
The presence of the world’s most expensive player was a major boost for his team, after Neymar missed last season’s surprise last-16 loss to Manchester United with a foot injury.
He also sat out the second leg of their defeat by Real Madrid at the same stage in 2018.
PSG’s German coach Thomas Tuchel admitted Neymar’s lack of match fitness had been a factor in the away defeat, but said his team still has time to find their form.
“Neymar hadn’t played for a fortnight, but he is very important for Kylian (Mbappe), there is harmony between them and if Neymar lacks rhythm, it’s immediately noticeable,” said Tuchel.
“We didn’t have enough possession, we made too many easy mistakes, we weren’t smart enough and we lost the ball too early.
“It’s difficult, but it’s 2-1 and we still have a few games left to get back into the rhythm.”
His counterpart Lucien Favre echoed Haaland’s insistence that the result gives Dortmund only a slender advantage with PSG’s passionate home fans set to get behind their team in the return leg.
“Of course it’s a dangerous result, but we played well in both defence and attack,” said Dortmund’s Swiss coach.
“However, as things stand it’s 2-1 to us.”
Norway teenager Erling Braut Haaland scored twice as Borussia Dortmund sealed a 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain, for whom Neymar scored on his return from injury, in Tuesday’s Champions League last 16, first-leg tie.
Neymar has been named in the Paris Saint-Germain squad for Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg at Borussia Dortmund, despite missing the French club’s last four games through injury.
The world’s most expensive player has been struggling with a rib problem but was expected to be fit in time for the game at Signal Iduna Park.
The Brazilian missed last season’s surprise last-16 loss to Manchester United with a foot injury, while he also sat out the second leg of the defeat at the same stage of the competition by Real Madrid in 2018.
Neymar was rested, along with Kylian Mbappe, for PSG’s remarkable 4-4 draw at Amiens in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
“He will be in Dortmund, I’m sure of it, but without being in the best shape he was in two weeks ago,” Tuchel said before the Amiens game.
“But he will help us. I am sure and convinced of that.”
PSG are yet to reach the Champions League semi-finals since being bought by their Qatari owners in 2011, with their run to the last four in 1994-95 still the closest they have come to lifting the European Cup.
AFP
Borussia Dortmund were dealt a blow on Wednesday after announcing that captain Marco Reus has picked up a muscle injury that should keep him out of the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain.
In a statement Dortmund said the 30-year-old should be out “for around four weeks” after picking up the injury late in Tuesday’s 3-2 German Cup defeat at Werder Bremen, ruling him out of the home leg of the PSG clash on February 18.
He should, however, be back for the return leg in Paris on March 11.
Germany forward will be a big miss for Dortmund, as he has scored 12 goals and set up seven more this season.
Teenage striking sensation Erling Braut Haaland scored his eighth goal in just four games for Dortmund at Bremen, but could not stop his new side crashing out of the cup.
AFP
