After a tight draw in the first leg, Shakhtar set out to Germany to try and get back the away goals they had conceded and turn things around. Unfortunately for them, however, the BvB Stadion Dortmund is one of the hardest places in Europe to play at when you’re trying to get things back!
The German hosts went into this game on the back of a comfortable win against Hannover in the German Bundesliga the previous weekend, and although Hannover weren’t as tough as Shakhtar were expected to be, the win was a very encouraging one. Shakhtar, in the same manner, had earned a great victory over Volyn Lutsk in the Ukrainian Premier Liga the previous weekend, and so they were also in high hopes for their trip to Germany.
The hosts had, no doubt, the upper hand going into this game because of the 2 away goals they had managed to score in the first leg of this match, meaning that even if they would set out to defend, they had themselves a spot. Jurgen Klopp, however, is not one to opt to play the underdog in any game. In this situation, he didn’t even plan a defensive game. Mircea Lucescu, in the same manner, planned to give double of what he had given in the first leg, knowing that this would be the decider for his side.
For the first half of this game, the hosts were more in control as they tried to get an early lead over their opponents. In as early as the 12th minute, they had their first good chance from a Lewandowski effort, but Pyatov was there to save the day to Shakhtar’s delight.
13 minutes later, however, Pyatov was defeated when Felipe Santana delivered the hosts’ first one of the night with a fine header from a Mario Gotze corner; this was his fourth assist for his side in their European campaign this season.
But they were still not satisfied just yet! Just 4 minutes later, Gotze was almost part of another assist, but it didn’t work like they wanted.
On the 37th minute, however, Mario Gotze got a chance to score one himself and took it well! 2-0 for Dortmund, and even before halftime, it seemed to be all over for Shakhtar, who had their heads down at this point. The man of the half for Dortmund was certainly Mario Gotze. On the Shakhtar side, it had to be Kucher, because of his evident hard work.
Mircea Lucescu now had to score three goals in just 45 minutes to get his side through on away goals, but Dortmund weren’t about to let him even try! He took off Taison, who’d been above average for his side, for Douglas Costa at the half to see what he would contribute to his side, and almost immediate impact was seen as he had an attempt just two minutes later.
The whole Shakhtar team was buzzing to score and try to get something back, playing faster in the second half, but Dortmund were still very strong. 59 minutes in, Pyatov had a bit of trouble keeping the ball, and the hosts had their third of the night, courtesy of Błaszczykowski! 30 minutes to now score 4 goals was simply not enough!
Douglas Costa kept shining while trying to look for some sort of consolation for his side, but it was all in vain. Dortmund goal-keeper and captain, Roman Weidenfeller, was as determined to keep a clean sheet as his side was to get a win. The last 20 minutes of the game saw the visitors trying to get something, but before long, Damir Skomina blew the final whistle and Dortmund were comfortably through to the Champions League Quarter Finals and deservedly so!
Statistic-wise, the hosts had 3 more chances over their visitors and had more possession overall. Both teams had very good chances, but Dortmund took theirs better and were undoubtedly the better side. Shakhtar Donetsk were the squad to pick up the only yellow card issued during this game. No players were sent off during this match.
Jurgen Klopp and Mircea Lucescu lined up the following squads:
Borussia Dortmund Starting XI:
Weidenfeller (c), Subotic, Piszczek, Felipe Santana, Schmelzer, Gotze, Reus, Bender, Gundogan, Błaszczykowski, Lewandowski
Subs: Langerak, Letiner, Bittencourt, Schieber, Grosskreutz, Nuri Sahin, and Kehl
Shakhtar Donetsk Starting XI:
Pyatov, Kucher, Rat, Rakitskiy, Fernandinho, Teixeira, Srna (c), Hubschman, Taison, Luis Adriano, Mkhitaryan
Subs: Kanibolotskiy, Kryvstov, Kobin, Gai, Eduardo, Douglas Costa, and Stepanenko
Final Score: Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Shakhtar Donetsk (Agg: 5-2)
Felipe Santana 31′, Gotze 37′, Błaszczykowski 59′
Quarter Finals
Having eliminated Shakhtar Donetsk, Borussia Dortmund are through to the Quarter Finals. Their opponents will be announced at the draw on March 15th in Nyon.
Written by Ange Marline