Atalanta Comeback Beats Dortmund As Samardzic Seals Late Penalty To Reach Last-16

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Atalanta reached the Champions League last-16 with a dramatic 4-3 aggregate victory over Borussia Dortmund, overturning a two-goal first-leg deficit. Lazar Samardzic converted a 98th-minute penalty in Bergamo, sealing a 3-1 win on the night and completing a comeback against a Dortmund team competing with Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga title race.

The decisive moment arrived deep into stoppage time when Gregor Kobel sliced a clearance straight to Mario Pasalic. Pasalic quickly crossed towards Nikola Krstovic, who stooped to head, but Ramy Bensebaini’s raised boot caught Krstovic. After a VAR review, the referee awarded a penalty, dismissed Bensebaini for a second yellow card, and Samardzic drilled the spot-kick into the top corner with virtually the final kick.

The Serie A side had already transformed the tie before that late twist, racing into a 3-0 lead on the night. Within five minutes, Lorenzo Bernasconi swung in a cross that Bensebaini misjudged, glancing the ball into the path of Gianluca Scamacca, who finished calmly at the far post to halve Dortmund’s overall advantage.

Atalanta then levelled the aggregate score just before half-time. Davide Zappacosta collected the ball on the edge of the area and unleashed a shot that clipped Bensebaini, wrong-footing Kobel as it looped over the goalkeeper. That goal brought Palladino’s side fully back into the contest, lifting the home crowd and shifting momentum firmly towards Atalanta.

Dortmund almost regained control eight minutes after the interval when Maximilian Beier struck the post. The rebound rebounded against Julian Brandt and flew behind, letting Atalanta escape. Moments later, Marten de Roon delivered a teasing cross from the right, and Pasalic rose at the back post to head in, giving Atalanta a 3-0 lead on the night and the aggregate advantage.

The visitors responded through substitutes, with Karim Adeyemi finding a way back into the tie. Adeyemi exchanged passes with Carney Chukwuemeka before shaping a precise left-footed shot into the top-left corner with 15 minutes remaining. That strike made it 3-1 on the night and 3-3 on aggregate, setting up a tense finale before the stoppage-time penalty incident.

Atalanta Champions League history and data debrief

The result sends Atalanta into the next round, where they will face either Arsenal or Vincent Kompany’s side. Atalanta became the first club to overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit in a Champions League knockout tie since Liverpool eliminated Barcelona in the 2018-19 semi-final, underlining the scale of Palladino’s side’s achievement.

Scamacca’s opener also continued a notable personal run in European competition. The forward is only the third player to score in three consecutive home matches for Atalanta in major European tournaments, following Oliviero Garlini in April 1988 in the Cup Winners’ Cup and Ademola Lookman in February 2025 in the Champions League.

Performance data reflected Atalanta’s control across the second leg, with the hosts creating the clearer chances over the 90 minutes.

Atalanta’s higher expected goals figure of 2.61 from 15 attempts, nine on target, compared with Dortmund’s 0.93 from seven shots, underlined the home side’s attacking threat. The numbers backed up the scoreline, showing why Atalanta progressed and Dortmund exited despite late resistance.