Through three times after losing 2-1

4 December 1963
5-0 win over Benfica after 2-1 first-leg loss

It took place almost 60 years ago, and yet it still occupies a place at the very top of the list of the greatest-ever games in the club's glorious history. Benfica were not just any old opponent; they had been in the final of the European Champions Cup in four of the previous five seasons, winning the competition twice. Borussia Dortmund were looking to offset a 2-1 first-leg defeat against this team of titans. Three goals in as many minutes from Konietzka (34) and Brungs (35, 36) sent the players and the 42,000 spectators at the Rote Erde into a state of euphoria. Brungs (47) and Wosab (59) then rounded off the scoring to complete the rout.

30 September 1987
2-0 victory against Celtic after 2-1 first-leg defeat

A year after being saved from relegation by Wegmann's last-gasp goal, Borussia Dortmund returned to European stage. The UEFA Cup first round clash with Celtic was a festival of football – both on the pitch and in the stands. The friendship that was forged with the hard-drinking Scots has lasted to this day. The Black & Yellows ran out 2-0 victors thanks to late goals from Norbert Dickel (74, 86) and advanced to the next round.

18 March 1993
2-0 triumph over Roma after losing first leg 1-0

BVB found themselves up against exceptional Italians AS Roma en route to the 1993 UEFA Cup final. The Black & Yellows fought tooth and nail in the first leg, before getting the job done in the return fixture. Michael Schulz (41) and Lothas Sippel (46) converted crosses from Knut Reinhardt, who probably had the game of his life that night, either side of the interval to complete the comeback.

3 November 1994
3-0 versus Slovan Bratislava after 2-1 loss in first leg

The 32,500 spectators in the Westfalenstadion saw that the first-leg defeat was little more than a blip for Borussia, who were the leading light in the Bundesliga that season and went on to claim the title in the second half-season despite unbelievably bad luck with injuries. A Möller goal (15) and a Riedle brace (46, 85) re-established the natural order.

6 Dezember 1994
3-1 win AET against Deportivo La Coruna after 1-0 first-leg loss

The story of this match on St. Nicholas Day 1994 has been told many times. Along with Malaga and Benfica, it is one of the greatest European evenings in Black & Yellow history. Zorc's goal (50) forced extra time, but the game seemed up once Alfredo had levelled at 1-1 in the 102nd minute. Borussia now needed two more goals. They got them late on though, with Riedle netting in the 116th minute and Ricken on 119 minutes to send Borussia into the next round after all.

14 March 1995
2-0 against Lazio following 1-0 defeat in first leg

A wonderful evening of football at a sold-out Westfalenstadion. Ottmar Hitzfeld listened to his father's advice and put Stéphane Chapuisat on the right wing in order to keep the attacking left-back Chamot pinned back. The tactic worked. Chapuisat converted a penalty – awarded for a foul on Riedle – in the 11th minute to make it 1-0. Then, just as everyone was preparing for extra time, Chamot was sent off for a second yellow card (89) and Riedle slotted home a Chapuisat pass in stoppage time to make it 2-0.

7 December 1999
3-1 penalty shootout win against Rangers (2-0 AET) after 2-0 first-leg loss

There was a sad mood in the BVB camp in the late autumn of 1999. The team had been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League in the group stages. And though they were still in the UEFA Cup, they seemed almost certain to be heading out after a 2-0 first-leg defeat to Rangers. Ikpeba got a much-needed early goal, but they appeared to be losing the race against time – until goalkeeper Lehmann popped up in the opposition box and flicked the ball to Bobic, who fired home for 2-0. There were no goals in extra-time, but Lehmann then saved penalties from van Bronckhorst, Numan and Reyna.

8 March 2017
4-0 versus Benfica after 1-0 loss in the first leg

One set-piece aside, BVB got everything right in their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg: they created chance after chance going forward, were denied from the penalty spot and were extremely unlucky to lose 1-0 away to Benfica. You could really sense BVB's desire to turn around that first-leg result at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK three weeks later. Aubameyang headed home an early opener with only four minutes on the clock. Pulisic (59) and another Aubameyang goal (61) increased the lead to 3-0 within two minutes around the hour mark, before Aubameyang scored again to round off the 4-0 victory (85). Current City goalie Ederson kept goal for Benfica that day.
(Boris Rupert/cr)