Atalanta pulled off a stunning Champions League miracle, overturning a two-goal deficit to dump Borussia Dortmund out with a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Atalanta staged one of the most remarkable comebacks in recent Champions League history, defeating Borussia Dortmund 4-1 in Bergamo to secure a 4-3 aggregate victory.
𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐎 𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐙𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎𝐎 🖤💙🖤💙#AtalantaBVB #UCL #GoAtalantaGo pic.twitter.com/M1QFWUFFYx
— Atalanta B.C. (@Atalanta_BC) February 25, 2026
By overturning a two-goal first-leg deficit, “La Dea” became the first team to achieve such a feat in a knockout tie since the 2018/19 season. The match reached a fever pitch at the New Balance Arena as the Italian side scored with the very last kick of the game, sending the home supporters into total delirium.
The turnaround began almost immediately, as Atalanta halved Dortmund’s overall lead within the first five minutes. Nicola Zalewski, who was a constant thorn in the side of the German defence, forced an early save before Lorenzo Bernasconi’s cross found its way to Gianluca Scamacca. The Italian striker made no mistake, tapping the ball home to give the hosts the dream start they desperately needed.
Dortmund, who had only lost once in the Bundesliga all season, suddenly looked rattled by the intensity of the Bergamo crowd.
Despite the early pressure, Dortmund did have moments where they threatened to kill the tie. Serhou Guirassy missed a header at the back post, and Marco Carnesecchi had to be alert to stop a sharp effort from Julian Brandt. However, Atalanta’s persistence paid off just before the half-time whistle. Davide Zappacosta’s hopeful shot took a massive deflection off Ramy Bensebaini, looping over a stranded Gregor Kobel to make it 2-0 on the night and leveling the aggregate score at 2-2.
The second half was a tense, end-to-end affair where both sides had golden opportunities to take the lead. Maximilian Beier nearly restored Dortmund’s advantage but struck the post from a difficult angle after beating the goalkeeper.
Within minutes of that miss, the visitors were punished for their wastefulness. Mario Pasalic met Marten de Roon’s inswinging cross with a perfectly timed glancing header, putting Atalanta 3-0 ahead on the night and leading the tie for the first time.
Refusing to go down without a fight, Dortmund manager Niko Kovac made a flurry of substitutions to spark a response. After Guirassy inexplicably miskicked with an open goal at his mercy, two substitutes combined to rescue the visitors. Karim Adeyemi played a sharp one-two with Carney Chukwuemeka before curling a beautiful left-footed strike into the top corner. With the aggregate score tied at 3-3, the match looked destined for an exhausting 30 minutes of extra time.
The final moments, however, were defined by absolute chaos. Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who had been excellent up to that point, made a catastrophic error by losing the ball outside his penalty area. During the resulting scramble, Bensebaini cleared the ball but caught Nikola Krstovic in the head with a high boot. After a lengthy VAR review, the referee awarded Atalanta a penalty and sent Bensebaini off for the dangerous challenge, capping off a nightmare evening for the defender.
Under immense pressure, Lazar Samardzic stepped up and clinically converted the penalty with the final kick of the match.
The 4-1 victory (4-3 on aggregate) ended Atalanta’s three-game losing streak in the competition and confirmed Dortmund’s heartbreaking exit. While the Germans left frustrated with Nico Schlotterbeck also seeing red from the bench, Atalanta can now look forward to Friday’s draw, where they could face heavyweights like Bayern Munich or Arsenal.
