Liverpool 4-3 Dortmund
April 14, 2016 Liverpool 4-3 Borussia Dortmund
(Origi 48', Coutinho 66', Sakho 78', Lovren 90+1' - Mkhitaryan 5', Aubameyang 9', Reus 57')
Borussia Dortmund have been knocked out of the Europa League quarterfinals after an incredible comeback from Premier League side Liverpool.
Thomas Tuchel's side were perhaps slight underdogs going in to the second leg at Anfield on Thursday night, following a 1-1 draw at the Signal Iduna Park the previous week, yet early goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put Dortmund back in front in the tie.
Jürgen Klopp's side were offered some minimal hope three minutes after half time when Divock Origi finished off a wonderful counter-attack from Emre Can just, yet a tidy finish from Marco Reus seemed to put the game to bed when Dortmund notched up their third goal of the evening just before the hour mark.
Yet Liverpool, spurred on by their manager and the famous Kop, continued to trouble Dortmund throughout the second half and began to turn the tide just nine minutes later when Coutinho curled an outstanding long-range shot round Roman Weidenfeller and into the back of net.
With more than 20 minutes to go and two goals needed to go through, Liverpool had the wind back in their sails and continued to press their visitors back in to their own half. The cool, counter-attacking Dortmund were long gone, and in their stead a side now stood nervous and unaware of how they were to react to this incentivized team.
The black and yellow spirits fell just two minutes before full time when a Coutinho corner bounced into the box, headed home by towering central defender Mamadou Sakho. Replays showed that Matthias Gitner - subbed on just moments before - had been out of position and allowed the ball to bounce past him and into the six-yard box. Dortmund looked lost, disorganized and completely helpless to what seemed inevitable.
Indeed, the magical Liverpool comeback needed a fourth goal to see them through to the semifinals of the Europa League and it came in the dying moments of the game when a late cross from James Milner drifted across Dortmund's goal to Dejan Lovren at the back post, who headed it in to confirm Liverpool's victory on the night.
The Croatian defender has long been the butt of many jokes around Merseyside but that night he was the hero of Anfield. A night in which Dortmund had initially looked like one of the best teams in European football before capitulating on the famous English stage.