Lazar Samardzic slotted home a stoppage-time penalty to complete a dramatic 4-1 victory for Atalanta over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, sending the Italian side into the UEFA Champions League 2025-26 last 16 with a comeback 4-3 aggregate triumph.
Dortmund’s Ramy Bensebaini was sent off after his studs caught the head of Atalanta’s Nikola Krstovic in the penalty area, and Samardzic converted the spot kick in the 98th minute to send the Italians through. Atalanta will now face either Arsenal or Bayern Munich in the round of 16, with the draw on Friday.
The host had to fight back following last week’s 2-0 loss in Germany, and Gianluca Scamacca tapped in at the far post to give it a fifth-minute lead as it got off to a dream start.
Dortmund had its share of chances, but it was its keeper, Gregor Kobel, who was busiest in the first half, twice denying Nicola Zalewski. He was beaten, however, on the stroke of halftime when Davide Zappacosta’s shot was deflected into the net off Bensebaini to make it 2-0.
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Atalanta keeper Marco Carnesecchi made the save of the match when he tipped Serhou Guirassy’s low drive wide in the 49th minute to protect its two-goal advantage. Dortmund went even closer in the 53rd with Maximilian Beier’s shot bouncing off the post.
Instead it was the host which scored again thanks to Mario Pasalic’s header at the far post to go 3-0 up and take control of the tie.
Dortmund, however, bounced back with substitute Karim Adeyemi adding instant pace to its game and curling his 75th-minute shot into the top corner as the visitor hoped to take the contest into extra-time.
Yet Bensebaini then tried to clear a cross in the box with a backheel but caught the head of Krstovic, who went down bleeding. The host was awarded a penalty following a lengthy VAR review, and Samardzic beat Kobel to send his team through with the last kick of the game.
Published on Feb 26, 2026
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