Aubameyang hat-trick helps Dortmund bury Benfica
We were just as dominant as we were in the away game.
Pierre-emerick Aubameyang scored a hat-trick and Christian Pulisic claimed his first Champions League goal as Borussia Dortmund overcame Benfica 4-0 to reach the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Aubameyang had missed a penalty when Dortmund lost 1-0 in the first leg of the Round of 16 contest three weeks ago. But he made up for that by taking his tally to seven goals in seven games as the German side progressed 4-1 on aggregate.
“I wasn’t happy with my game, with how I played,” Aubameyang said of his previous performance in the away match. “I wanted to show my teammates that I could do much better.”
The draw for the quarterfinals on March 17.
Aubameyang got Dortmund off to a flying start in the fourth minute, heading in from point blank range after Pulisic headed on a corner. “That was all rehearsed,” Dortmund captain Marcel Schmelzer joked.
Pulisic was playing in place of the injured Marco Reus, with the 18-year-old American making his eighth Champions League appearance pegged back, with Marc Bartra going close and then Ousmane Dembele trying his luck from distance. It was midway through the half before Benfica finally got forward, though Roman Buerki easily saved Franco Cervi’s low shot.
Fear of conceding an away goal seemed to weigh on the Dortmund defence. “We did have our chances after the break and didn’t use them. Then we were hardly able to react,” Benfica coach Rui Vitoria said.
“We were just as dominant as we were in the away game,” said Dortmund coach Thomas
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