Dortmund beats Benfica 4-0 to make Champions League quarters
DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a hat trick and Christian Pulisic claimed his first Champions League goal as Borussia Dortmund overcame Benfica 4-0 to reach the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Aubameyang had missed a penalty when Dortmund lost 1-0 in the first leg of the Round of 16 contest three weeks ago. But he made up for that by taking his tally to seven goals in seven games as the German side progressed 4-1 on aggregate.
"I wasn't happy with my game, with how I played," Aubameyang said of his previous performance in the away match. "I wanted to show my teammates that I could do much better."
Barcelona stunned Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 in Wednesday's other second-leg game with the decisive goal coming in injury time for a 6-5 victory on aggregate. The draw for the quarterfinals takes place in Nyon, Switzerland on March 17.
Aubameyang got Dortmund off to a flying start in the fourth minute, heading in from point blank range after Pulisic headed on a corner.
"That was all rehearsed," Dortmund captain Marcel Schmelzer joked.
Pulisic was playing in place of the injured Marco Reus, with the 18-year-old American making his eighth Champions League appearance.
Dortmund kept the visitors pegged back, with Marc Bartra going close and then Ousmane Dembele trying his luck from distance.
It was midway through the half before Benfica finally got forward, though Roman Buerki easily saved Franco Cervi's low shot — a good chance for the visitors.
Fear of conceding an away goal seemed to weigh on the Dortmund defense.
Cervi should have scored after the break after Lukasz Piszczek botched a clearance but the Dortmund defender scrambled back in time to block.
"We did have our chances after the break and didn't use them. Then we were hardly able to react," Benfica coach Rui Vitoria said.
Piszczek more than made up for his error by finding the impressive Pulisic to score at the other end in the 59th with a brilliant chip over the outrushing Ederson.
Within two minutes Dortmund had another as Aubameyang grabbed his second from Schmelzer's volleyed cross after Julian Weigl picked him out with a fine diagonal ball.
Bartra hit the post with a header before Aubameyang completed his hat trick with five minutes remaining thanks to Erik Durm's cross.
"We were just as dominant as we were in the away game," said Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel, whose side had missed a host of chances in Portugal.
