Borussia Dortmund overturned the 1-0 deficit from the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie with Benfica by beating the Portuguese capital outfit 4-0 (1-0) at home to reach the quarter-finals of Europe's premier club competition for the sixth time in their history.

Dennis-Julian Gottschlich reporting

The 65,849 fans at a sold-out SIGNAL IDUNA PARK saw a BVB determined to atone for their first-leg loss in Lisbon. The hosts made a flying start and took the lead through an Aubameyang header after only four minutes, but Thomas Tuchel's team were unable to double their advantage before the interval and would have conceded an equaliser at the start of the second period if it hadn't been for Piszczek's courageous block (47). Pulisic (59) and Aubameyang (61) then scored within the space of two minutes to put the hosts 3-0 ahead and send the Black and Yellow faithful into raptures, before Aubameyang completed his hat-trick with the fourth in the 85th minute.

The scenario:
BVB needed to win by two goals if they were to progress to the quarter-finals, while Benfica only required a draw to book their place in the last eight. A 1-0 victory for the hosts would have meant extra-time – and possibly penalties. The Portuguese outfit travelled to Dortmund on the back of seven consecutive victories, during which time they had only conceded twice. "It's a complicated result," said Thomas Tuchel of the first leg in the run-up to the return fixture. "We need to attack with desire but we must have cover for our attacks so that we stay balance on the pitch. We want to create chances, score goals and excite the fans."

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Personnel matters:
Tuchel, who was without Götze (metabolic disorder), Bender (torn lateral collateral ligament), Rode (groin operation) and Reus (torn fibres in thigh), made two changes to the team that thrashed Leverkusen 6-2 in the Bundesliga at the weekend. Pulisic started in place of the injured Reus, while Schmelzer stepped in for Raphael Guerreiro, who started on the bench in spite of a muscle problem. Benfica were without the injured Felipe Augusto (ankle). Jonas was available after recovering from a back and neck problem but did not make the starting XI.

Tactics:
The Black and Yellows took to the field in a 3-4-3 formation in which wingers Durm and Schmelzer played in an advanced role and consistently pressed their opponents early on. Only when Benfica were a good 15-20 metres into the BVB half did the duo drop back and expand the rearguard into a back five. The Portuguese visitors opted for a classic 4-4-2 system in which Greek forward Mitroglou played high up and rarely dropped back, while Cervi slotted in the gap behind him.

The match & analysis
A readiness to fight and run, technical finesse and a frenetic tempo going forward were accompanied by vociferous support from the crowd, who produced the first highlight of the evening before the match had even kicked off with a wonderful choreography in the South Stand. At this point all the signs pointed towards it being one of those magical European nights at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, a dream which moved a step closer to reality only four minutes into the match when the hosts broke the deadlock following a Dembélé corner. The ball sailed towards the near post, where a completely unmarked Pulisic flicked it on for the equally unimpeded Aubameyang to head home. The fans were buoyant – but there was still a long way to go.

By this point the Black and Yellows had cancelled out Benfica's narrow first-leg lead but needed more goals to progress. As much was clear for Thomas Tuchel's players, who continued to dominate proceedings following the early lead but tried to remain calm and composed while keeping the ball as far as possible from their own goal. Dembélé almost doubled the advantage on 11 minutes following a lightning-fast counter-attack by Aubameyang, but the Frenchman fired narrowly over from 18 metres. Lisbon got more of a foothold in the game after the 20-minute mark, but their first effort from Cervi following build-up play from Salvio down the flank was comfortably gathered by Bürki (22). Barely ten minutes later Luisao threatened from a header in the box following a free-kick, but Bürki was again on hand to thwart the danger (32). The rest of the first half was a hard-fought encounter, with petty fouls disrupting the flow of play. Despite their energetic start to the match, Borussia still had a lot of work to do after the break.

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Bartra battles Benfica captain Luisao in the air.

Two-goal salvo in two minutes

The first real heart-in-mouth moment for the Black and Yellows came directly after the interval, when Piszczek scuffed his attempt to clear Semedo's fizzed cross into the centre. The loose ball fell straight to Cervi in a promising position, but the Polish international immediately atoned for his error by throwing his body into the path of the Argentine's shot and blocking a certain leveller at full stretch (47). It served as a wake-up call for BVB, who twice spurned chances to double their advantage following Castro free-kicks in the ensuing minutes. Both efforts fell to Aubameyang, who fired narrowly wide with an acrobatic scissor kick in the 49th minute before striking the outside of the post from close range four minutes later.

Encouraged by what they had seen, the crowd drove the Black and Yellows forward and were rewarded for their support on the 59-minute mark when Pulisic found the net. Though Aubameyang had failed to beat Ederson from close range, BVB recycled the attack with Piszczek playing an inch-perfect through-ball into the box for the USA international, who coolly lobbed the Benfica custodian to make it 2-0. Only two minutes later came the next Black and Yellow wave, this time starting with an excellent diagonal ball from Weigl to Schmelzer, who volleyed it back across the face of goal from the left for Aubameyang to slot home the third (61). The sense of relief in SIGNAL IDUNA PARK was palpable: the Black and Yellows now had one foot in the quarter-final, because Benfica now needed to score twice if they were to deny the hosts a place in the last eight of the competition.

And there was more to come! Though Castro's volley from 16 metres out (66) was off target and Bartra's header from a corner struck the outside of the upright (84), Aubameyang was set up by Durm a short while later (86) to round off a highly-deserved 4-0 victory for Borussia.

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Prospects:
The draw for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League will be made next Friday (17/3, 12:00 CET) in Nyon (Switzerland). The ties will kick off on 11/12 April, with the second legs coming a week later on 18/19 April. Borussia's next match comes on Saturday (15:30 CET), when they travel to Hertha BSC in the Bundesliga.