Jeez Louise. Football. Bloody hell!
OK, we’re going to wrap this blog up now, and luxuriate in what happened at Camp Nou. Thanks for reading. Bye.
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We’re into the final knockings at Barcelona, and this is wild:
A rather sad end to what was an extremely good match. For an hour, Benfica were in the game, and in the tie, but they conceded two sloppy goals in two minutes, and then fell away badly in the final 30 minutes. Dortmund were much more clinical in front of goal, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a striker of rare quality, but Benfica are a better team than this performance suggests, and their departure from the Champions League has been dishearteningly limp. Dortmund roll on, and they’ll be tough to beat, especially at home. They’re in the last eight for the third time in a decade, and they deserve to be.
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Full-time: Dortmund 4-0 Benfica (4-1 on aggregate)
That’s that.
90 min Three minutes of added time, which seems completely pointless, given the circumstances.
88 min Ginter replaces Sokratis in Dortmund’s final change. Just going back to the goal, Aubameyang was a yard offside, but Pulisic did really well again, finding space in the inside-right channel and producing a super low cross for his team-mate. Aubameyang couldn’t miss.
86 min Well, it’s Aubameyang’s third goal of the night, but it probably shouldn’t have counted: it looked as though he was a yard offside from Pulisic’s pass. But the linesman’s flag didn’t go up, and the Gabon striker gets another goal of a remarkable season. And then immediately departs, to be replaced by André Schürrle. Benfica, I’m sorry to say, have capitulated.
GOAL! Dortmund 4-0 Benfica (Aubameyang 85)
Aubameyang’s hat-trick, and Dortmund are in the last eight.
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83 min Bartra heads wide from 10 yards! It was a Dortmund corner on the right, and Bartra met it really well, completely unopposed, but steered his header a yard the wrong side of the post. If he’d put it on target, that was 4-0.
82 min Final change for Benfica, and Raul Jimenez replaces Cervi. Mitroglou tries to get on the end of a cross from the left, but Burki is quickly out to catch. Benfica’s heads have dropped.
80 min Dembele is down with cramp, so he’ll be replaced by Shinji Kagawa.
79 min Dortmund now well on top. Benfica keep giving it away, and then giving away cheap free kicks.
77 min Rui Vitoria’s trying to gee his Benfica players up, but they’ve really lost their way. They haven’t managed to carve out an opportunity since the goal.
73 min Samaris is off, and Andrija Zivkovic, the 20-year-old Serb, is on.
71 min Benfica look slightly forlorn now. Which is a shame: it hasn’t really been a 3-0 game, and Benfica haven’t been on the end of a tonking. Dortmund have basically been more clinical.
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68 min Having just criticised the Benfica defence, Aubameyang is a master poacher, isn’t he? What a fine player. That’s now 28 in 30 games for Dortmund this season.
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67 min Headed clear by Dortmund, who now have the bit between their teeth.
66 min Corner to Benfica. Time’s ticking.
64 min Football, eh! Benfica had been very much in the game, but they’ve been made to pay for a couple of very sloppy minutes. Even at 2-0, there was no need to panic, but they just needed to take the sting out of it, and they couldn’t. Schmelzer’s ball in from the left side was very good for Aubameyang’s goal, but the Benfica defence was all over the place.
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63 min Jonas is on for Salvio. Benfica have 27 minutes to save their European season.
62 min Benfica just switched off. Schmelzer, I think it was, got free on the left side, and cushioned a volley across the face of goal. Aubameyang reacted quickest as Luisao stood and watched, and from six yards he couldn’t miss. Benfica now need two.
GOAL! Dortmund 3-0 Benfica (Aubameyang 61)
And another! Dortmund are suddenly running riot.
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60 min What a final half-hour we have in store. And what a lovely goal by Christian Pulisic. It was quite a sequence: Benfica had pushed up, and Aubameyang went through only for Ederson to save well. But Benfica didn’t quite clear, and when it was played back in, Pulisic ran off Lindelof, and clipped it beautifully over Ederson. Great goal.
GOAL! Dortmund 2-0 Benfica (Pulisic 59)
But not this time! Dortmund lead 2-1 on aggregate!
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58 min Ederson to the rescue again! Aubameyang denied!
57 min Now Benfica attack, and Luisao is almost on the end of another inswinger. Piszczek heads behind for a corner, and Dortmund eventually clear. Benfica look dangerous on set pieces, though. Actually, so do Dortmund.
55 min Another good stop by Ederson! And another offside flag against Aubameyang. Benfica gave it up in dopey fashion, Pulisic sped away down the right side and fed Aubameyang, whose stabbed effort was well saved by the goalie. But again, the flag had gone up. It wouldn’t have counted.
54 min Man alive. Look what’s happening in Barcelona:
52 min What a save by Ederson! Castro dinked a free kick into the box, it was licked on at the near post, and Ederson spread himself wonderfully to keep out Aubameyang from close range! Actually, the whistle had blown for offside, but Ederson wasn’t to know. Top keeping.
50 min Benfica look dangerous when they attack, and Pizzi wins a corner following an energetic dribble. Dortmund don’t clear the first ball, and it comes back to Pizzi, who had crept in from the corner flag, but his shot is far too high. Disappointing.
48 min Dortmund free kick 40 yards from goal, and Castro finds Aubameyang unmarked in the box, but he tries to volley first time instead of heading it back across goal, and it’s wide. Dortmund might have made more of that.
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47 min No changes to either side. And what a chance for Cervi to start the second half! Piszczek made a real mess of his clearance, and it fell perfectly for Cervi – but he took too long, and Piszczek threw himself in the way to deflect it behind for a corner. Big, big chance. But why did Crevi take so long?
46 min We’re back. One each on aggregate. Away we go.
It should be an extremely watchable second half at Camp Nou. Barcelona aren’t out of it yet. Not by a long chalk. More here:
An entertaining half, and this tie remains firmly in the balance. Dortmund started like a house on fire, went ahead through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s header, and for 20 minutes looked like they might run away with it. But Benfica settled, started to play, and have carved out one or two very good chances of their own. It’s extremely tight. Too close to call!
See you in 15.
Half-time: Dortmund 1-0 Benfica
That’s the whistle.
45 min Aubameyang goes down on the edge of the box, but Martin Atkinson says no. Piszczek slams one over the bar from 20 yards.
43 min Piszczek fouls Cervi, and it’s a good set piece chance for the visitors. Pizzi takes it, Mitroglou heads back across goal, but it just doesn’t fall to a red shirt. Promising, though; the Dortmund marking was slack.
42 min Schmelzer crosses from the left, and Pulisic finds a little pocket of space on the edge of the box, but he tries to head it at goal first-time, and he can’t get the power. It’s straight through to Ederson.
40 min Dembele is late on Eliseu, and he needs to cool it. That was right in front of the Benfica bench, and they were immediately up, demanding a second yellow. Martin Atkinson decided against it, but Dembele would be well advised to take it easy.
38 min Cervi takes a free kick from a decent position, but it’s too long. A waste.
37 min Now Dembele is booked, I think for dissent. Our Martin doesn’t appreciate backchat!
35 min More good play from Benfica, and they’re prepared to commit bodies forward. The move breaks down, but Dortmund were struggling in defence for a moment.
32 min Dembele streaks clear as Dortmund look to break, and Samaris gives him a bump from behind. Samaris is booked, and he’ll miss the first leg of the quarter-final should Benfica make it.
30 min Pizzi’s ball in, and Luisao gets free … but heads it straight at Burki! Another good chance for Benfica!
29 min Almeida goes down in some pain after a late tackle from Castro. Castro is booked, deservedly: that was naughty. Decent chance for the visitors from the set piece.
26 min Benfica were rotten for the first 20 minutes or so, but they’ve started to play. Dortmund still on top, but Benfica are seeing more of the ball, and that Cervi chance was a good one.
23 min Oh, Cervi. That was Benfica’s best chance of the match, and it came from the right side: Semedo crossed low, and everyone missed it, but Cervi, from the left side of the penalty box, didn’t get hold of it, and Burki saved easily. Should have done much better.
22 min Better from Benfica. They work it nicely, but Eliseu’s cross from the left flank is disappointing.
19 min Ederson comes off limits and heads clear unconvincingly, and for a moment Durm fancies his chances à la Dejan Stankovic, but it’s miles over the bar. Interestingly, that Benfica penalty shout was a decent one: it was Luisao tussling with Schmelzer, was it, and it definitely struck a Dortmund arm. Not given, though. It might have been.
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18 min Dortmund look like they’re in again on that left side, but Aubameyang is half a yard offside, and it’s a Benfica free kick.
15 min It’s been a high-energy start from the hosts. Benfica haven’t seen much of the ball.
13 min Another corner for Dortmund, this time after good work from Julian Weigl. Benfica defend it properly this time.
12 min Dembele, last season’s Ligue 1 young player of the year, has been extremely prominent in this opening 10 minutes or so. He’s got in several times in that lane between the centre-back and the full-back. Benfica have their hands full already.
10 min Now Benfica win a corner, following some excellent hold-up play from Mitroglou. Pizzi takes it, and there’s an appeal for handball, but Martin Atkinson says no. Dortmund counter-attack at extreme pace, and Dembele fires over the bar! That wasn’t too far away.
8 min Played in again by Dembele, and Bartra got up above Ederson, and headed over! The goalkeeper barely got off the ground – think Peter Shilton against Maradona – and Bartra, having won it, probably should have done better.
7 min More strong running from Dembele in that inside-left channel, and it’s another corner.
5 min Terrible defending from the visitors. Dembele took the corner, Pulisic got a touch, and Aubameyang was completely free at the back post, and he headed it forcefully into he top of the net. What a start for Dortmund, and the Westfalenstadion is rocking.
GOAL! Dortmund 1-0 Benfica (Aubameyang 4)
From the corner! A dream start for Dortmund, and it’s their main man!
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3 min Demebele gets free in a pocket of space on the left side, and Luisao hammers it behind for a corner. Slightly panicked defending from Benfica.
2 min Early counter for Benfica, and Semedo looks to go forward on the right side, but Dortmund have men back to clear the danger.
1 min And we’re off! Dortmund in traditional yellow and black; Benfica in red and white. This should be good.
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The teams are just emerging from the tunnel. The stadium looks a quite delicious picture. A touch of rain in Dortmund, which should make for a nice slick surface.
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We’re just watching some of the highlights from the first leg in Lisbon, including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s penalty miss, which was curious: he sidefooted it straight down the middle, expecting the keeper to dive, but Ederson psyched him out, stood up, and saved it. Most unusual: I can’t remember too many other occasions when a keeper has stayed on his feet and beaten it away. But then my memory is useless, so there are probably loads.
Some pre-match stats:
- Benfica have won 47 ties and lost only eight after winning the first leg
- Dortmund have lost just once in their previous 11 home games in European football (W 8 D2)
- Dortmund have won eight of the 15 ties where they lost the first leg away from home
- These teams have met once before in the European Cup, in 1963-64. Dortmund won 6-2 on aggregate
- Dortmund have won all five of their previous home games against Portuguese teams
- Benfica gained the fewest points of all the teams to go through to the last 16
What does all this mean? I don’t know! My prediction: Dortmund to squeeze through.
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There’s also an important game in the Premier League tonight. Manchester City take on Stoke, and they can go second with victory. Scott Murray has all the news:
So Raphaël Guerreiro misses out for Dortmund, and Christian Pulisic, the American youngster, comes in for Marco Reus. Benfica look like 4-2-3-1, and Jonas starts on the bench.
The lineups
Obviously there’s another game going on in the Champions League today. Barcelona might be 4-0 down from the first leg, but they insist they’re not out. Barry Glendenning has all the latest:
Hello and welcome
This is an intriguing last-16 tie between two of European football’s grandest clubs, and at the halfway stage, it’s too close to call. Benfica won the first leg 1-0, thanks to Kostas Mitroglou’s goal, but Dortmund are extremely good at the Westfalenstadion, where the fans are numerous and the atmosphere is lovely and loud.
Benfica don’t have a great record in Germany, but they’re in form: they’re top of the Primeira Liga by a point from Porto, and have won their last seven on the trot in all competitions. Mitroglou has 18 goals in his last 17 games, and their recent pedigree in the Champions League is decent: the Eagles are looking for a third quarter-final spot in six seasons.
Dortmund were favourites to progress when this tie was announced, and a 1-0 deficit is not beyond them, but it’s not cut-and-dried. They score plenty of goals, walloped Leverkusen 6-2 at the weekend, and sit third in the Bundesliga, but their defence is frail, and they’ll have to do without Marco Reus, who injured a thigh at the weekend. Dortmund fans must hope Pierre Aubameyang does what he generally does: score goals, and lots of them. The Gabon striker’s record for the club is absurdly good: 75 goals in 117 Bundesliga games. Better than Lewandowski!
Two good sides with a rich tradition in Europe, amid a sea of black and yellow in the Ruhr. This should be a cracker. Join us at 7.45pm GMT, 8.45pm local time.
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Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, read why Theo Walcott has pleaded with his team-mates to stop fighting with each other:
Theo Walcott has called for unity within the Arsenal squad in the wake of the Champions League humiliation against Bayern Munich, having admitted that players have been “fighting each other”.
Alexis Sánchez stormed out of an Arsenal training session last week and was involved in a dressing-room slanging match with some of his team-mates, which led to a raft of negative headlines and the Chile forward being dropped from the starting lineup at Liverpool last Saturday.
“There are certain things that happen at training grounds,” Walcott said. “I’m sure it happens at every other training ground, most of the time, really. You don’t see it often at Arsenal. Things have happened. They need to stay in the dressing room and the players and staff need to sort it out. We are in it together here. We can’t be fighting each other.”
Arsène Wenger has been the focus of supporter ire at Arsenal but Walcott said the players had to take responsibility. “He [Wenger] will take this on himself but us players need to look at ourselves,” he told the Evening Standard. “The manager has been taking a lot of flak in recent weeks and us players have been accepting it, but we can’t.”
