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Atalanta’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund ended in chaos after an incident in added time that left a player with blood pouring from his head. Dortmund had held a two-goal advantage heading into the second leg in Bergamo, but the Serie A outfit battled hard to level the tie at 2-2 just before the break.
The home side continued their momentum into the second half, with Mario Pasalic netting a third goal of the evening for Atalanta. It put them on the brink of a famous comeback, with Atalanta having never previously won a UEFA tie from two goals down heading into the second leg.
Their celebrations were put on ice when Karim Adeyemi curled home a stylish effort from the edge of the box to level things up on aggregate, with it looking like the match was headed for added time. That was until Atalanta sparked a counterattack in the 94th minute of the match, when a ball was clipped towards Nikola Krstovic appeared destined for the back of the net.
Ramy Bensebaini managed to clear the ball, but in doing so, the defender also made contact with Krstovic’s head, who was left lying in a heap on the ground. The connection from Bensebaini had been strong enough to draw blood from his opposition head, with the referee, who had initially waved away Atalanta’s claims, pausing the restart for a VAR check.
The man in the middle eventually concluded that Bensebaini’s actions constituted a foul and therefore awarded Atalanta a penalty. Lazar Samardzic stepped up to take the spot kick and tucked it high into the side netting to send Atalanta through to the next round.
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But it wasn’t just on the pitch where the drama unfolded, as the referee also brandished red cards to two people who were on the touchline at the time. One of those was Dortmund substitute Nico Schlotterbeck, who had only just returned from an injury.
The referee also showed another red card, which appeared to be given to a member of Atalanta’s backroom staff. Not that they’ll care too much, given Samardzic’s penalty was the last kick of the game, with Atalanta now looking ahead to Friday’s draw.
As a result of their win, Atalanta will play either Bayern Munich or Arsenal in the last-16. It’s the first time since 2021 that Atalanta have reached the last-16 of the Champions League, with their best-ever run coming during the Covid-affected 2019/2020 season, when they reached the quarter-finals.
