UEFA Champions League
0-3 - Tevez stunner shocks Dortmund after three minutes
Borussia Dortmund have fallen short in their attempt to reach the last eight of the UEFA Champions League. The Black and Yellows followed up a 2-1 defeat in Turin with a 3-0 (1-0) reverse in their own stadium to exit the tournament at the hands of Juventus.
With 65,851 fans packed into a sold-out Signal Iduna Park, Carlos Tevez set the ball rolling for the "Old Lady" in the opening stages. The diminutive Argentinian broke the deadlock after three minutes with a strike into the top corner. The home side regularly forayed into opposition territory but only created one chance of note in what was a largely pedestrian and harmless attacking display. And they were made to pay the price in the second half when Morata (70) and Tevez (79) calmly slotted home. To make matters worse for BVB, Schmelzer was substituted at half time with a thigh problem.
Felix Ulrich reports
The scenario:
BVB went into the game having not lost at home in the current campaign and boasting ten victories from their last 13 home games in the UEFA Champions League. It was the 14th time that they needed to overturn a first-leg away deficit - a feat which they have managed on eight separate occasions. Having slipped to a 2-1 defeat in Turin on 24 February, a 1-0 win would have taken Borussia Dortmund into the last eight of the competition. In fact, qualification would have seen BVB reach the quarter finals of Europe's elite club competition for the third consecutive year.
Personnel matters:
Borussia Dortmund made just three changes to the side that drew 0-0 with Cologne in the Bundesliga on Saturday for the second leg of their last 16 tie against Juventus. Sokratis returned to the side and played at right-back, just as he did in the first leg before Piszczek was substituted through injury. Kampl and Bender also came in to replace Kagawa and Kehl in the starting eleven. Other absentees included Sahin (adductor injury), Piszczek (partial tear of the syndesmosis ligament), Großkreutz (muscle tear), Ginter (pulled muscle) and Durm (lack of match fitness).
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri made four changes to the side that beat Palermo 1-0, with Evra, Vidal, Morata and Pogba (suspended) returning to the team after sitting out the Serie A clash in Sicily. Barzagli and Llorente were dropped to the bench, while Sturaro and de Ceglie were sidelined with injuries. Midfield maestro Pirlo also missed the game with a calf injury.
Tactics:
In contrast to the first leg (4-1-4-1), Borussia Dortmund employed a 4-2-3-1 formation with Bender and Gündogan in defensive midfield. Kampl lined up in the centre of the home side's attacking trio, with Mkhitaryan and Reus featuring on the flanks. Juventus adopted the same 4-1-3-2 formation as the first leg, with Tevez often dropping deep from his forward-lying role as he sought to pass the ball forwards. After Pogba picked up an injury midway through the first half, Chiellini filled in at left-back and Evra shifted forward to take up Pogba's midfield role.
Tevez scores screamer after three minutes
The game and analysis:
The home crowd were silenced from the start when Juventus took the lead on the three-minute mark. After Subotic failed to clear the ball from a Juventus throw-in on the left hand side, neither Gündogan nor Hummels were able to close Tevez down. The Argentine made the most of the space, rifling the ball into the top corner from 20 metres out. It was his fifth goal of the this season's Champions League campaign, and there was little Weidenfeller could do to stop it.
The match might not have started according to plan, but the home side didn't let their heads drop despite needing three goals to qualify at this point. Borussia soon managed to get a foothold in the game, but the away side's aggressive defensive tactics (8-2 fouls before the break) kept them at bay. BVB were superior everywhere except the final third, registering 63 per cent possession, winning 56 per cent of tackles and boasting an 84 per cent pass completion rate in the first half. And yet they rarely threatened the Juventus goal, with just two half-chances created before the break.
Lacking ideas in attack
Dortmund seemed rushed when it came to making the final pass, offering little in the way of ideas against their defensively-minded guests in the opening 30 minutes. When key midfielder Paul Pogba was forced off through injury (22), the "Old Lady" switched to a back three whenever they found themselves in possession and operated with five at the back each time Dortmund poured forward in attack. It wasn't as if Juventus only came to defend though, with Weidenfeller forced to punch clear when Lichtsteiner struck from distance with his side's second chance of the match (16).
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In fact, it was the Dortmund custodian who kept his side in the tie in the second period. In the 50th and 56th minutes Weidenfeller prevented Morata from scoring, although the Spaniard was clearly offside in the first instance. It was not the only wrong decision made by Milorad Mazic, with the Serbian official often waving play on when Juventus committed fouls. Vidal escaped disciplinary action time and time again, with the referee even failing to brandish a yellow card when the Chilean elbowed Reus on the 50-minute mark.
Schmelzer picks up thigh injury
BVB coach Jürgen Klopp pulled out all the stops with half an hour remaining. A thigh injury had already seen Schmelzer replaced by Kirch at half time, but he soon made a double substitution as Ramos and Kuba came on for Bender and Mkhitaryan. The home side also switched to a more attacking 4-4-2 formation. Just six minutes later - in the meantime Subotic had had Borussia Dortmund's first chance of note (67) - the tie was all but over when Kuba played Tevez onside, allowing the skilful South American to square the ball for Morata to slot home the second (70).
Juventus sealed a memorable victory in the 79th minute when Tevez struck to make it 3-0, condemning a Borussia Dortmund side that was no longer winning the midfield battles to their heaviest-ever home defeat in the UEFA Champions League.
Prospects:
The last eight in the competition will now be turning their attention to Switzerland on Friday, with the fixtures for the quarter finals set to be drawn in Nyon at midday. At this stage, there are no restrictions to prevent teams from the same country facing each other. The teams awaiting Friday's draw include Bayern Munich (GER), Paris St. Germain (FRA), Real Madrid (ESP), FC Porto (POR), FC Barcelona (ESP), Atlético Madrid (ESP), AS Monaco (FRA) and Juventus (ITA). BVB now face an away Bundesliga trip to Hanover on Saturday.