Champions League: Dortmund limp out after Monaco masterclass

Monaco 3-1 Dortmund (6-3 agg.)
(Mbappe 3', Falcao 17', Germain 81' - Reus 48')

Borussia Dortmund are out of the Champions League after Monaco produced another attacking masterclass against Thomas Tuchel’s side.

Dortmund traveled to the principality already facing an uphill struggle, with the damage already done seven days ago at Signal Iduna Park, 24 hours after the Dortmund team bus was bombed.

On the field, the same problems haunted Dortmund as a week ago. Their defence never looked capable of containing a Monaco team that is able to turn the screw with ruthless efficiency.

In front of a small but vocal support at Stade Louis II, the tie’s standout striker, Kylian Mbappe, scored the opener inside three minutes, following up on the rebound after Benjamin Mendy’s stinging drive was too hot for Roman Bürki to hold. In finding the net again, Mbappe becomes the first player to score in each of his first four Champions League knockout games.

Radamel Falcao was guilty of a glaring miss in the first leg, but he caused Dortmund’s defence problems all night and got the goal his performances over the two legs has deserved. He connected with a cross from Mendy to send a thumping header beyond Bürki as Dortmund defenders were nowhere to be found.

Dortmund went close to dragging themselves back into the contest when the reinvigorated Nuri Sahin bent a free kick around the Monaco wall but could only see it come back off the post. Dortmund’s most likely scorer on the night was Marco Reus and he went close when he was spotted by Erik Durm, but his shot was straight at Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.

Despite his impressive displays this season, Ousmane Dembele was left on the bench, a puzzling move from Thomas Tuchel. The Frenchman was duly introduced in the first half when he replaced Durm, and Dembele assisted Dortmund’s only goal of the night shortly after the restart.

Dembele’s trickery left Mendy twisted inside out and was able to pick out an oncoming Reus. The German forward tapped in a sweet finish that made it 2-1 on the night and gave Dortmund hope that they could get two additional goals to force extra time.

But despite a brief rally from Dortmund and a decent volley from Reus straight at Subasic, Monaco always looked more likely to add to their lead. Mbappe almost did that when he went clean through but was denied by a fine Bürki save.

Monaco finally got the third nine minutes from time, killing Dortmund off. A lapse in concentration by Lukasz Piszczek saw the ball fall to Thomas Lemar. The Monaco winger played in substitute Valere Germain before he slotted a shot under Bürki 22 seconds after coming off the bench.

While the game between these two teams will be remembered for last week’s attack and the subsequent show of humanity between the two supporters, it has highlighted the flaws in this Dortmund team. Meanwhile, Monaco reach the last four of the Champions League for the first time since 2004; no one will relish facing this scintillating young team.

As it happened: