“Failure” or “catastrophe” are in the headlines of the German media Kicker and Bild. And the truth is that Dortmund certainly did not repeat the positive performance from the first home duel, which they won 2-0.
But let’s go step by step. Gianluca Scamacca opened the score of the rematch in Bergamo in the 5th minute. It started from scratch in the 45th minute, when Davide Zappacosta scored, and Mario Pasalič completed the turnaround shortly after the half-time break.
“It was a lousy performance from us. We can’t score goals like that. Nobody can blame us for anything, but after so many individual mistakes it’s hard to advance,” captain Emre Can was upset for the DAZN station.
However, Borussia recovered in the second half and was mainly helped by substitutions. Newcomer Karim Adeyemi reduced the score to 1:3 and the double game status was open again. Dortmund then had more of the game and could have returned to the lead thanks to Serhou Guirassy, but instead a definitive blow came at the opposite end.
The ball already flew behind the defense in the set time and the mistake was made by the experienced goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who messed up the kick-off and instead smeared the opponents.
Ramy Bensebaini put an end to the situation and fouled Nikola Krstović with an unfortunate acrobatic save. The referee, after consulting VAR, sent off Bensebaini after a second yellow card and awarded a penalty kick. Atalanta converted that one and finally decided.
“It was my fault, I apologize to the guys and I’m sorry,” Kobel admitted.
CHAOS at the very end! 🤯
Bad pass by Kobela. Foul by Bensebaini. Red card. Converted penalty at the end of the set-up and Atalanta celebrates 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩 into the last 16 of the Champions League!#NovaSport | #UCL pic.twitter.com/4vIti9lh4G
— Nova Sport (@novasport_cz) February 25, 2026
Coach Niko Kovač was well aware that the Swiss support between the three posts did not support his team this time, but he did not want to throw the blame solely on him.
“We don’t have to talk about the penalty, it was a mistake. But the bottom line is that we simply didn’t play well. We are now disappointed and crushed,” said the Dortmund coach.
“We were unlucky at the end, but we didn’t deserve to advance for this performance,” added Can.
Frustration was evident from his teammates as well. Non-playing stopper Nico Schlotterbeck also saw a red card on the bench. On the other side, Giorgio Scalvini went to the cabins.
Dortmund thus said goodbye to the Champions League prematurely and was not in a very good mood before the weekend’s key league duel with Bayern Munich, where they will still fight for a theoretical chance to win the title.
