LILLE, France (Reuters) -Borussia Dortmund fought back to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the second year in a row as second-half goals by Emre Can and Maximilian Beier gave them a deserved 2-1 win at Lille on Wednesday.
Can scored from the penalty spot to cancel out Jonathan David’s early opener before Beier scored the winner as the German side, who won the competition in 1997 and finished runners-up last season, wrapped up a 3-2 aggregate victory.
They will face Barcelona for a place in the semi-finals.
It was a cruel end for Lille, whose hopes of reaching the competition’s quarters for the first time were dashed after a promising campaign in which they had qualified directly for the last 16 from the league phase with notable victories over Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Lille got off to a perfect start with David sliding the ball home from Ismaily’s cutback in the fifth minute.
Remy Cabella then skied an attempt over the bar after a fine team move but Dortmund went close to equalising when defender Alexsandro’s desperate block denied Pascal Gross, whose shot had beaten keeper Lucas Chevalier.
The Lille keeper made tremendous back-to-back saves in a packed goalmouth to preserve the home side’s advantage but Dortmund were largely dominant.
Lille regained some form of control and Benjamin Andre’s header went just wide, but Dortmund had the last chance of the opening half through Gross.
The visitors went up a notch after the break and levelled in the 54th minute when Can converted a penalty after Thomas Meunier had fouled Serhou Guirassy.
The visitors had further chances through Karim Adeyemi and Beier, who found the back of the net in the 65th minute with an effort into the top corner after a clever turn.
Niko Kovac’s side, who sit 10th in the Bundesliga, then defended well and were never in any real danger.
(Writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)
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