Dortmund stages comeback to eliminate Lille, set up Barcelona clash

Borussia Dortmund fought back from an early setback to secure a 2-1 victory over Lille in France on Wednesday, sealing a 3-2 aggregate win to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals.

Jonathan David gave Lille the perfect start, scoring in the fifth minute to put the French side ahead in the tie after last week’s 1-1 draw in Germany. However, Dortmund responded in the second half, with Emre Can equalizing from the penalty spot in the 54th minute before Maximilian Beier netted the winner.

With this victory, last season’s runners-up will now face Barcelona in the quarter-finals next month, having already lost 3-2 to the Spanish giants during the league phase in December. The result is a major boost for Dortmund and their recently-appointed coach, Niko Kovac, especially as the team struggles in 10th place in the Bundesliga.

For Lille, the defeat is a bitter disappointment. They were aiming to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in their history after an impressive group stage performance, where they finished seventh out of 36 teams, defeating Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid while also holding Juventus and thrashing Feyenoord.

Lille appeared to be in control after securing a draw in Germany, and their confidence grew when David swept Ismaily’s low cross past Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, taking his tally to seven goals in this season’s Champions League.

However, Dortmund responded strongly. Lille’s goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier made a stunning double save to deny the visitors in the 20th minute, but Dortmund kept up the pressure and earned a penalty early in the second half when Serhou Guirassy was brought down by Thomas Meunier.

Can confidently converted from the spot, and soon after, Karim Adeyemi struck the crossbar. The breakthrough finally came in the 65th minute when Guirassy set up Beier, who controlled the ball inside the box and blasted a powerful shot into the net.

Lille struggled to recover from the setback, exiting the competition in the last 16 for the third time, just as they did in 2007 and 2022.