Diego Simeone fell to his knees and then fell face down in his equipment room. Even after 674 games in charge, his Atletico Madrid team still finds new ways to surprise him.
He warned against suffering during construction; he warned that punishment was in store and that Atletico, looking for their first Champions League semi-final appearance in seven years, would have to show some old-fashioned resilience to get there.
Only that was scarce here. Chaos, that was this. Pure chaos.
And that’s not Diego Simeone’s way; that’s not what his Atletico Madrid is anymore. No longer the masters of defense. No longer an impenetrable force. They are fallible and Dortmund made them pay.
Jan Oblak took the ball out of his net four times. Make that eleven games in a row without a clean sheet for Atletico Madrid.
Marcel Sabitzer scored the crucial goal to send Borussia Dortmund through to the semi-finals
Dortmund move on to face PSG in the last four of this season’s Champions League
Diego Simeone collapsed in disbelief and his resilient side crumbled in the second leg
Simeone stood on the grass in despair and his unusually vulnerable side was punished
Julian Brandt scored the opener for Borussia Dortmund to put the hosts ahead in Germany
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Dortmund left Spain 2-1 after the first leg, spoiling a missed opportunity after only appearing after going behind. Julian Brandt went late to the bar at the Wanda Metropolitano – it was still playing on his mind when he arrived at Signal Iduna Park.
Here at home, it was all about harnessing the energy of their famous ‘Yellow Wall’ and dictating from the start, as youth triumphed over experience. For example, they surpassed PSV Eindhoven in the previous round. You can barely hear yourself think and teams freeze, even players with as much experience as Atletico.
Hours before kick-off, the Yellow Wall was full, as usual. The away match was loud in response, but Dortmund’s players knew they had to do little to send their fans into a frenzy.
It should have been 1-0 and the perfect start inside four minutes when former Manchester United loanee Marcel Sabitzer was taken out five yards out with a cutback before receiving a tap and the chance gone.
Seconds later, Atletico broke and quickly turned defense into attack, as they have done so often and successfully under Simeone, as Alvaro Morata’s pace carried him through one-on-one. He lobbed goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, but put the ball wide. Simeone was in disbelief.
Dortmund would then dominate, with Brandt, the man of the match, putting them ahead on the night and leveling the tie, before Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen fired them ahead five minutes later with his first ever Champions League goal.
Dortmund, who didn’t feel like it when the group stage draw was made and they were paired with PSG, Newcastle and AC Milan, are thriving at home, now unbeaten in their last ten Champions League games at home.
Antoine Griezmann and the Atletico Madrid players applauded the traveling fans
Ian Maatsen doubled the lead and put Dortmund ahead in a thriller
Atletico pulled one back and Mats Hummels’ own goal provided a route back
Correa then scored at home to make it 2-2 at Signal-Iduna Park
Niclas Fullkrug (center) scored the goal to make the score 4-4 on aggregate that evening
Marcel Sabitzer caused wild scenes with a goal that gave his team a 5-4 lead on aggregate
However, it didn’t all go to plan for Dortmund. For two teams whose seasons have been plagued by inconsistencies, that was perhaps to be expected.
A treble substitution at half-time by Simeone turned the match on its head, at least temporarily, and an own goal from Hummels and a smart finish from Angel Correa soon had Dortmund sweating with their progress.
Atletico would crumble though, their second wind fleeting as Niklas Fullkrug and Sabitzer both scored in a three-minute frenzy. Simeone was left scratching his head.
“seghjf.akdhsufhlkuweFNK’sejhgkfeksw.fguiliEGUFKilsugefg;wougEHFLiuewfgu;weliuTFYO8;wefguoeouwgtf,” Dortmund’s official account on X tweeted.
“By the way, that means we’ve scored.”
It made about as much sense as the football shown. Pure chaos, pure theater. It was all that Atletico Madrid were not at their best under Simeone.