Borussia Dortmund went three points clear at the top of UEFA Champions League Group A with a scintillating performance to beat Atletico Madrid 4-0 on Wednesday in a game in which Jadon Sancho scored his first goal in the competition.
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Atletico Madrid
Goals: 1-0 Witsel (38′), 2-0 Guerreiro (73′), 3-0 Sancho (83′), 4-0 Guerreiro (90′)
There was little indication that such a memorable result was to come early on, as the visitors began aggressively, pinning Dortmund into their own half for the first quarter of an hour. Yet the hosts, led by Marco Reus and the superb Axel Witsel, showed great maturity to work their way back into the game, with Christian Pulisic and Jacob Bruun Larsen willing runners at one of the most respected backlines in the game. That pressure eventually paid off when Witsel’s deflected shot from the edge of the box wrong-footed Jan Oblak, giving BVB the lead at the break.
If there was an element of luck involved in that goal, there was nothing fortunate about Dortmund’s second-half display. Again the visitors started strongly, but Lucien Favre’s side patiently grew into the game and extended their lead when Raphael Guerreiro tapped in Achraf Hakimi’s cross following a sweeping team move. Hakimi turned provider again in the closing stages, tearing away down the left to set up Sancho for an easy finish for his maiden Champions League goal. Guerreiro crowned a brilliant performance when he latched onto an errant pass from Filipe Luis to sweep in a fourth as Atleti suffered their heaviest defeat under Diego Simeone in the Argentine’s 391st game in charge.
Match stats
- Hakimi claimed two assists in this game, while Sancho netted his first ever goal in the competition.
- Sancho now has three goals and eight assists for the season in all competitions.
- The last time Dortmund and Atletico met in competitive action was the 1996/97 Champions League group stage – the year Borussia won the competition.
- The only other previous occasion was in the 1965/66 European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final. BVB won 2-1 on aggregate on their way to lifting the trophy.
- Atletico failed to win an away game in the Champions League last season.
- The Madrid club have now lost 11 of their 20 competitive visits to Germany (W6, D3).
Line-ups
Dortmund: Bürki – Piszczek, Diallo, Zagadou, Hakimi – Witsel, Delaney (Dahoud 35′) – Pulisic (Sancho 79′), Götze, Bruun Larsen (Guerreiro 62′) – Reus (c)
Unused subs: Hitz, Philipp, Weigl, Toprak
Absentees: Akanji (hip), Schmelzer, Toljan (both knee)
Coach: Lucien Favre
Atletico: Oblak – Juanfran, Godin (c), Hernandez, Filipe Luis – Koke, Thomas (Rodrigo 46′), Saul (Correa 70′), Lemar – Diego Costa, Griezmann
Unused subs: Adnan, Arias, Savic, Rodrigo, Vitolo, Kalinic, Correa
Absentees: Savic (calf)
Coach: Diego Simeone
As it happened
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