Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel felt the ‘real’ Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had shown up as his side beat Benfica 4-0 to book their Champions League quarter-final place.
The Bundesliga side had squandered a host of chances in Portugal as they contrived to lose the first leg 1-0.
Gabon international Aubameyang inspired his team at the Westfalenstadion on Wednesday, netting the first of a hat-trick of goals in the fourth minute to ease the nerves.
The hosts dominated and made their superiority count in the second half with Christian Pulisic getting the crucial second goal just before the hour mark and Aubameyang doing the rest.
Tuchel felt his striker had shown his worth after misfiring in the first leg. “If I say that I expected this result it would mean that we have a lack of respect for Benfica.
You cannot expect that you will score four goals against a team like them,” Tuchel said after the game.
“We had the self-confidence to turn the tie around and the team demonstrated that, especially in the second half. “We saw the real Aubameyang [as opposed to the first leg].”
Dortmund topped their group ahead of Real Madrid in this season’s Champions League and Tuchel acknowledges the 1997 European champions won’t be content with simply reaching the last-eight.
“We played two great games and I think we deserved to go through. If you are into the last-eight you want to go to the last-four and that’s what we will try hard to do,” he added.
Dortmund are 11.00 to win the Champions League this season, while defending champions Madrid are 6.00 having also secure a quarter-final berth this week.
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