UCL: Dortmund book quarterfinals clash against PSG

Borussia Dortmund will be playing against Barcelona after coming  from behind to beat Lille in the round of 16 tie.

The first leg of the tiehad ended in a 1-1 and the Bundesliga side progressed 3-2 on aggregate.

Lille took a fifth-minute lead when Jonathan David swept a first-time finish through the legs of the unfortunate Gregor Kobel, putting the French side put  2-1 up on aggregate.

Dortmund which came close several times finally hit back in the second half and levelled in the 54th minute when captain Emre Can converted a penalty after Thomas Meunier nudged Serhou Guirassy in the box.

Maximilian Beier who headed narrowly wide later made amends in the 65th minute, firing into the roof of the net from Guirassy’s pass.

Canada forward David had a chance to level the tie and scored a race but his close-range effort was well saved, while Hakon Haraldsson’s dipping strike was pushed over the bar by Kobel.

Niko Kovac’s Dortmund side will now face La Liga giants Barcelona next month in the last eight.

The Bundesliga giant had progressed to the next round afters 4-2 aggregate victory over Benfica.

Barcelona will go into the tie as favourite but Dortmund should not be written off as anything could happen in between both legs of the European top clubs competition .

Barca will bank on the form of their talisman, Robert Lewandowski, Yamil Lamal and  Raphina who can hurt any team, all thanks to the Barca midfield that is filled with class.

Dortmund will also bank on Guirassy who has continued his impressive debut campaign as he provided his fourth Champions League assist against Lille.

Since joining them from Stuttgart, the Guinea international forward has 14 goal involvements in the competition (10 goals, four assists), which is the the joint-most by an African player in a single Champions League campaign alongside Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah in 2017-18.

While he did not score, Guirassy was a constant threat to the Lille defence and won the penalty which sparked Dortmund’s comeback.

It’s expected to be the game of creativity and battle from the middle of the park or long balls from behind. More importantly is those that will take their chances or got punished for not doing so 

As the competition progresses, less chances are expected to open up and that will be for those who would take them.

Dortmund, who were last season’s finalist have reached the Champions League quarter-finals for a ninth time. They will need Guirassy to maintain his fine form if they are to get past Barcelona in the next round.