Borussia lead 2-0 ahead of second leg in Bergamo | OneFootball

Personnel matters:Emre Can, Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Süle and Filippo Mane were unavailable due to injury or illness, leaving head coach Niko Kovac without four centre-backs. He put his faith in youngster Luca Reggiani, 18 years of age, who started for the first time after a brief appearance in Wolfsburg and then 45 minutes against Mainz. Reggiani replacing Süle was the only change to the starting line-up from the weekend

The match:The match kicked off 15 minutes late because the BVB bus was stuck in traffic. The team started brightly. Nmecha, who was very active on the left wing and picked up the ball there, was sent through with a through ball, his first cross was blocked, but the second landed on the right with Ryerson, who picked up where he left off on Friday: the Norwegian crossed precisely into the box, where Guirassy rose high and headed the ball into the far corner (3).

Borussia set the pace for the first quarter of an hour, then Atalanta found their way into the game and had two dangerous chances. In the 21st minute, Svensson made a crucial tackle on Pasalic, who was bearing down on goal. But it was the home team who dominated the final stages of the first half. Nmecha played a long ball to Guirassy, who took the ball down and drove into the penalty area from the left before squaring it to Beier, who slotted home to make it 2-0 (42).

Borussia approached the second half in a measured and focused manner, sprinkling in the occasional attacking move, such as the one shortly after the restart when Brandt played in Guirassy, who fell to the ground in a duel with Kossounou. However, the referee felt this was not enough to award a penalty.

Brandt shot just over the bar after a corner was cleared (67) – at a stage when the opposition were pushing forward. But Dortmund's defence stood firm. Reggiani's composed performance was particularly noteworthy. Despite winning the ball back numerous times, the Black & Yellows were unable to create any dangerous counter-attacking opportunities.

Outlook:The second leg will take place on Wednesday next week. Before that, BVB will be away to Leipzig (Saturday, 18:30 CET).

BORUSSIA DORTMUND 2–0 (2-0) ATALANTA

Playoffs for the knockout stage, first leg

Bor. Dortmund: Kobel – Reggiani, Anton, Bensebaini – Ryerson, Bellingham, Nmecha (82, Sabitzer), Svensson – Brandt (70, Chukwuemeka) – Beier (70, Adeyemi), Guirassy (82, Fabio Silva)Substitutes: Meyer, Ostrzinski; Özcan, Kabar, Inacio, Couto, Krevsun, Benkara

Atalanta: Carnesecchi – Kossounou, Djimsiti (46, Hien), Kolasinac – Zappacosta (72, Bellanova), de Roon (63, Sulemana), Ederson, Bernasconi – Pasalic, Zalewski (82, Samardzic) – Scamacca (46, Krstovic)Substitutes: Rossi, Sportiello; Ahanor, Bakker, Scalvini, Musah, Vavassori Goals: 1-0 Guirassy (3, Ryerson), 2-0 Beier (42, Guirassy)Bookings: Reggiani, Anton – Kossounou, Djimsiti, ScamaccaReferee: Gözübüyük (Netherlands)Attendance: 76,900 at SIGNAL IDUNA PARKBoris Rupert