Dortmund crash out after Atalanta’s 4:1 comeback sealed by stoppage‑time penalty
Atalanta Bergamo overturned a two‑goal deficit from the first leg to eliminate dortmund from the Champions League play‑offs, winning 4: 1 in Bergamo after a penalty in the eighth minute of stoppage time. The late decision, confirmed by a video review, not only ended Dortmund’s tie but also deprived the club of roughly €11 million in competition bonuses.
José María Sánchez Martínez and the VAR intervention
Spanish referee José María Sánchez Martínez was summoned to the touchline by the video assistant and, after examining the footage, awarded a penalty and showed a yellow‑red card to Ramy Bensebaini. Earlier in the match he had also shown red to Nico Schlotterbeck and Mateo Scalvini on the bench. The VAR referral and subsequent decisions produced the decisive moment of the tie in the 90+8 minute.
Kobel error, Krstovic collision and medical treatment
The sequence that led to the penalty began when Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel ran down a long ball and played it into the feet of an Atalanta player. That player lifted the ball into the penalty area, where Bensebaini attempted a clearance with his heel and struck Joško Krstović on the forehead. Krstović lay on the turf bleeding heavily and received on‑field medical treatment before play resumed. The contact triggered the referee’s VAR review and the penalty call.
Samardzic, the Berlin‑born finisher, converts decisive spot kick
Ex‑Hertha forward Samardzic, who was born in Berlin, took the spot kick and placed it in the top‑right corner to make it 4: 1 at 90+8. That conversion completed Atalanta’s comeback and sent the Italian side through to the Champions League round of 16, where they will face either Bayern or Arsenal.
Atalanta’s early goals – Scamacca and an own goal
The scoring opened in the fifth minute when Dortmund’s right side—with Donyell Ryerson and Emre Can involved—was exposed and a cross ricocheted past goalkeeper Alexander Meyer’s coverage after Bensebaini’s deflection missed Jonas Svensson; Gianluca Scamacca finished coldly to make it 0: 1. On the stroke of half‑time, after Kobel had punched clear a cross, Davide Zappacosta struck from 18 metres and Bensebaini’s block with his thigh deflected the ball into his own net for 0: 2 (45').
Dortmund fightback, substitutions and the brief hope
After the interval, Jadon Beier tested the post in the 54th minute. At 57', Marten de Roon swung in a cross from the left and Mario Pašalić, unmarked at the back post, made it 3: 0 — a scoreline that at that moment would have sent Dortmund out on aggregate. Manager tactical changes followed: Fabio Silva and Carney Chukwuemeka were introduced for Beier and Julian Brandt in the 60th minute; later Karim Adeyemi and Gonçalo Couto came on for Jude Bellingham and Ryerson in the 70th minute. Chukwuemeka fed Adeyemi, who cut in from the right and scored in the 75th minute to make it 1: 3, enough at the time to hope for extra time.
Consequences for dortmund: sporting and financial
The late penalty undid Dortmund’s recovery and eliminated the side from the Champions League play‑offs. For dortmund the outcome has a direct financial implication: the club will forfeit roughly €11 million in UEFA prize money tied to progression. Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel publicly accepted responsibility for the initial pass that started the final sequence, saying it was his mistake, and coach Niko Kovač together with captain Emre Can defended him after the match.
What makes this notable is how a single error, compounded by a split‑second clearance and a VAR referral, produced a chain reaction that shifted both the sporting result and a significant financial prize. The timing matters because the decision came in the eighth minute of added time, extinguishing Dortmund’s late momentum and turning a 75‑minute fightback into immediate elimination.
Uncertainties remain over the on‑field interpretation of the contact — critics noted that Krstović’s head was very low at the moment of impact — and the scene is likely to provoke debate. For now, Atalanta progress and Dortmund face the immediate task of refocusing on domestic fixtures that follow the European exit.
