The first 12-goal game in 25 Champions League seasons took the spotlight on Tuesday from Real Madrid and Juventus advancing to the Round of 16.
It ended Borussia Dortmund 8, Legia Warsaw 4 — beating the Champions League’s previous best set by AS Monaco’s 8-3 win over RC Deportivo de La Coruna in November 2003.
The scoring bonanza included a four-minute spell in the first half with three Dortmund goals, two of them from Shinji Kagawa.
Photo: AP
Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel made nine changes to the side who beat Bayern Munich at the weekend. Marco Reus, the captain for the match, played his first game since a groin injury in May.
“That’s how you imagine a comeback after a long time. I’m fine now, it’s great that I could play from the start, but it was tough,” Reus said. “I’ve been out for a long time.”
Dortmund’s final goal came from a pass by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the club’s top scorer, who came on with 20 minutes left. He did not score, although he hit the post.
Photo: AP
Aubameyang passed across the penalty area and Reus hit a low shot that struck Legia’s Jakub Rzezniczak and slipped through the legs of goalkeeper Radoslaw Cierzniak.
“It’s fantastic for Reus, I am really pleased,” Tuchel said. “I’ve never had such a game, though, so I don’t really know how to analyze it. We scored a clear victory, but I really don’t know what to say.”
Dortmund’s reshuffled defense were caught out in the 10th minute when Vadis Odjidja crossed into the area. Prijovic controlled the ball and then curled it inside the far post with the outside of his right boot.
Dortmund replied quickly. Kagawa stooped at the far post for a rare header off a cross from Ousmane Dembele in the 17th. One minute later, Kagawa and Dembele swapped passes before Kagawa drilled in with his left foot. And in the 20th, Cierzniak tried to punch out a free-kick only for the ball to hit Nuri Sahin and bounce into the net.
The action never stopped and in the 24th Prijovic got his second, shooting through the legs of a defender. Prijovic nearly had a hat-trick, but hit the crossbar from point-blank range.
The ball soon ended up in Dortmund’s possession and Sahin fed Reus, who set up Dembele. Dembele fooled two defenders before shooting under Cierzniak in the 29th. Reus then completed the seven-goal scoring fest in the first half by tapping in a low cross from Kagawa.
Reus got his second in the 52nd, again from close range from a Dembele pass, to make it 6-2.
Michal Kucharczyk pulled one back for Legia, before Felix Passlack scored after a great run by Christian Pulisic, who crossed for Andre Schuerrle. His shot was blocked, but Passlack headed the rebound into the net.
Nemanja Nikolic scored Legia’s fourth, before Rzezniczak’s own-goal completed the win.
Monaco lost their place in history, but won Group E with a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur, who cannot now advance.
Defending champions Real Madrid won 2-1 in Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Sporting Clube de Portugal, but still trail Dortmund in Group F ahead of their showdown match in Spain on Dec. 7.
Juventus trailed early before beating 10-man Sevilla 3-1 to take top spot in Group H.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was