Borussia Dortmund have rediscovered their goalscoring form in the midst of a pivotal run of fixtures in all three competitions that continues when they play host to Benfica in the UEFA Champions League last-16 return leg on Wednesday evening. BVB have netted 12 times in their last three matches – a statistic that bodes well as they prepare for a clash with the Portuguese champions in which they need to score at least twice to progress.

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The unnecessary 1-1 draw in Mainz and, in particular, the unexpected but deserved 2-1 loss in Darmstadt have taken the shine off BVB's record since the winter break, but they have still managed to pick up 16 out of a possible 21 points in the Bundesliga, beaten Hertha BSC in the DFB Cup and delivered a strong performance in the Champions League in Lisbon despite the 1-0 defeat. It all bodes well for Thomas Tuchel, whose side's form and formation are clicking at present. "We have a lot of confidence, the team is growing together. We're focused and taking one step at a time. We're developing really well and, overall, we're having a really good spell," he said.

There is now an established back three in which Marc Bartra's performances are improving by the week, while Julian Weigl has a defensive midfield partner and no longer bears sole responsibility for linking the play between the defence and the attacking midfielders. Up front, meanwhile, BVB have plenty of "magicians", as Franz Beckenbauer likes to put it. "We simply couldn't defend against their tempo," admitted Bayer's Lars Bender.

Reus trips up and tears muscles fibres

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The clash with Bayer was even for long spells, but Borussia Dortmund benefited from two errors as they raced into a first-half lead: Aranguiz slipped up in the build-up to Dembélé's opener, allowing the Frenchman to turn into space and fire home (6); then, from a corner, Jedvaj steered a Bartra header into the path of the unmarked Aubameyang, who doubled the lead (26). The Black and Yellows subsequently squandered two gilt-edged chances, Aubameyang failing to get on a Dembélé cross with the goal at his mercy (21) before Reus was knocked off balance by Jedvaj in full flow. Not only did the attacker fail to beat Leno but, much more seriously, injured himself in the process and will now be sidelined for the Benfica match at the very least.

"It's a real blow, as over the last few weeks and in particular in the opening stages today, which I felt were somewhat sluggish, Marco was the one who consistently got us going, who took the responsibility, who was alert. He has been incredibly stable for weeks now, he's been playing at a high level and is a very important character," bemoaned Thomas Tuchel. "It's an enormous loss that takes the shine off the win."

Pulisic unplayable for Bayer

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The hosts emerged from the changing rooms without Reus and immediately conceded through Volland (48), then spurned the chance to hit back through Dembélé on the counter (58) before re-establishing their two-goal lead in the 70th minute when Dembélé latched on to a loose ball from a Guerreiro free-kick and floated it towards the back post, where Aubameyang was on hand to seal a second consecutive brace for the first time in his BVB career.

But a resolute Leverkusen would not be beaten and reduced the arrears with a skillful free-kick from Wendell that sailed past Bürki's outstretched hands in the 74th minute. Borussia, though, remained similarly unperturbed and retook control when Reus' replacement Pulisic fired the hosts 4-2 ahead only three minutes later by slotting home from inside the box after Castro and Durm had combined superbly.

Only then, as BVB took a two-goal lead for the third time, was Bayer's resolve broken. Schürrle scored from the spot (85) and Guerreiro hammered home at 114 km/h in stoppage time as Borussia rounded off their biggest-ever win over Leverkusen in 76 Bundesliga meetings.

"Creating clear-cut chances for weeks now"

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With six goals against Leverkusen, three in Freiburg and three against Wolfsburg – a total of 12 in three games – BVB have ended a dry spell in front of goal during which they scored just seven goals in as many matches (Augsburg, Bremen, Mainz, Leipzig, Berlin, Darmstadt and Benfica). But Tuchel believes the goals glut has been coming: "I need to go back a bit here. I think we could've scored between four and six goals at home to Leipzig and Hertha, given how many opportunities we created. In hindsight, the match with Leipzig gave us a huge boost. In terms of how we played, the amount of energy we displayed, how dangerous and aggressive we can be, the spirit we can defend and switch the play with against aggressive opponents: that had previously been the problem for us. We've been creating a lot of gilt-edged chances for weeks now. Darmstadt was the one exception really."

Now Borussia prepare to face Benfica – without Marco Reus. And while his absence is a bitter setback, there are plenty of other "magicians" who can step into the breach: Aubameyang, Dembélé, Pulisic, Schürrle and Mor. BVB's 21 goals in the group stages were a Champions League record. Neither Messi's Barcelona nor Ronaldo's Real have managed that. Now it's time for Benfica. And let's not forget, Borussia beat them 5-0 once...

Boris Rupert