BIG MATCH FEATURE: Dortmund v Atlético
Borussia Dortmund face Atlético de Madrid for a place in the Uefa Champions League semifinals with the German club needing to retrieve a 2-1 first-leg deficit in front of their own fans.
Atleti took control of the first game at the Estadio Metropolitano on 10 April thanks to first-half goals from Rodrigo De Paul (4) and Samuel Lino (32), but their visitors worked their way into the match after halftime and got their reward when substitute Sébastien Haller scored with nine minutes left. It might have been even better for Dortmund, with replacements Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Julian Brandt both denied by the woodwork in the closing stages.
Atlético made it to the last four three times between 2013/14 and 2016/17 but have not got as far since, while Dortmund – European champions in 1996/97 – last featured in the semifinals in 2012/13, when they ended as runners-up to Bayern München in an all-German final.
This season, Diego Simeone's Atlético finished top of Group E unbeaten before getting the better of the 2022/23 runners-up Inter Milan on penalties in the round of 16, where Dortmund – Group F winners in the autumn – edged out PSV Eindhoven.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Dortmund wins 3
Atlético wins 3
Draws 1
Dortmund goals 9
Atlético goals 7
The teams were paired together in the 2018/19 group stage, each recording a home victory.
Dortmund were 4-0 winners in Germany on Matchday 3 thanks to a first-half goal from Axel Witsel (38) – now of Atlético – and strikes in the closing stages from Raphaël Guerreiro (73, 89) and Jadon Sancho (83).
That equalled Atlético's heaviest European defeat and was their heaviest reverse under Diego Simeone.
The Spanish side turned the tables on a Dortmund side coached by Lucien Favre in Madrid on Matchday 4, Saúl
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