Champions League: BVB is in the round of 16 after the draw with Lazio

Status: 8:44 | Reading time: 3 minutes

B.Dortmund reached their first Champions League goal even without Erling Haaland’s goal machine. Despite the terrible news of the Norwegian forward’s weeklong failure, Revierklub made it to the second round for the third consecutive time with a 1-1 draw against Lazio Roma. Raphaël Guerreiro gave BVB the lead (44th minute) and former Dortmund Ciro Immobile equalized with a converted penalty (67th).

“It’s different when Haaland isn’t playing. However, we have created some scoring opportunities. We have to be happy with the draw, “said BVB sporting director Michael Zorc.

With a success, BVB would win the group ahead of schedule before the qualifying round at Zenit in St Petersburg on Tuesday. Eventually, even coach Lucien Favre’s team had to shake and endure minutes of anxiety. BVB goalkeeper Roman Bürki sent Immobile a shot around the post (87th). The injury to defense chief Mats Hummels in the finals diminished the joy of making it to the round of 16.

Frustration over the failure of BVB top scorer Haaland, who had torn a muscle fiber in final training for the match and, according to Favre, his team will be missing “until the new year”, was not initially carried over to the team. In the first minutes the BVB, which also had to do without the national Emre Can and the winger Thomas Meunier, dominated the game, but initially did not shake the strong defense of the Italians.

Questionable penalty for Lazio

“This hurts us, of course,” Zorc said before kick-off of Haaland’s absence. “Now the others have to fix it.” One of the others was captain Marco Reus, whom Favre had ordered to be on the front line, but he struggled and was replaced after 76 minutes. After half an hour Reus had the opportunity to make it 1-0, but the angle was too sharp.

Dortmund were aggressive and confident on the ball but failed to pass for a long time. In addition, they had to be alert on the defensive, especially against the former professional of BVB Immobile.

Aside from the two scoring chances, both sides did not score dangerous scenes in the penalty area until just before half-time. When the match was losing speed and entertainment value, Guerreiro, who had recovered from a muscle injury and was back on the team, struck. After a Thorgan Hazard pass, the Portuguese led Borussia with a shot from eleven meters.

After the restart, Lazio pushed for a draw. Without Haaland, Borussia had no relief in the offensive. Therefore, she came under increasing pressure and was punished: after a duel between the newly replaced Nico Schulz and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, the Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz decided the penalty kick. It was a dubious decision. Immobile did not miss this opportunity, he converted the penalty with ease.

“We played against good opponents. We could have scored a second goal and taken an unwarranted penalty. That was the theater. We are qualified, this is the most important thing, “said Favre.