Player Ratings: Borussia Dortmund vs Benfica Lisbon

An incredible game and a deserved victory for the boys in black and yellow. The inefficiencies of the first game are forgiven and the team can always count on the home crowd those extra few percent to push them.

MANAGER:

Thomas Tuchel: 8

Coach Tuchel did not tinker with the system and seems to have found the formation for the rest of the season. Since he switched to a 3-4-3 the team has been playing some excellent football and they are suddenly keeping clean-sheets (3 in the last 4 games). The first half was a bit shaky after Aubameyang's early goal but this has to be expected from a young team playing in a Champions League knock-out round.

STARTING XI:

Roman Bürki: 8

A few good saves from Bürki, he was always there when the team needed him.

Marcel Schmelzer: 6

"Schmelle" had a good assist and was defensively solid but he is not perfectly suited for playing wingback in a 3-4-3. His technical deficiencies slow the team down compared to Guerreiro and it will be interesting to see who will start in the future.

Marc Bartra: 9

A great performance from Bartra, he is quickly becoming our most important defensive player.

Sokratis: 8

The Greek-wall was just doing his usual thing. He had to be subbed off near the end of the game, let's hope it isn't anything serious.

Lukasz Piszczek: 8

Piszczek does not get enough praise for his performances. He's always solid defensively and he helps so much with the build-up play. His pass to set up Pulisic's goal was a thing of beauty.

Erik Durm: 8

Durm had another good game as the starting right wingback. He is a threat on offense, supporting whoever plays in front of him and does his job on defense.

Julian Weigl: 8

Weigl was once again at the heart of Dortmund's build-up play, he initiated most of the offense. However he did have a few bad passes, especially in the first half that could've been costly.

Gonzalo Castro: 7

It wasn't #GoodCastro, nor was it #BadCastro, he was just ok which was good enough against Benfica but if we want to get any silverware then he needs to be more consistent.

Christian Pulisic: 9 MOTM

He is 18. EIGHTEEN.

He scored to give us the lead in the tie with an amazing lob and set up Auba's goal for the 1-0 lead. The young American was a constant threat and proved that he can replace Marco Reus.

Ousmane Dembélé: 6

He had his usual moments of brilliance but he was also lucky he didn't see a red card in the first half. He needs to stay calm in those situations.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 9

After missing out on every single good opportunity in the first leg Aubameyang scored a hat-trick in the second. All of them were simple tap-ins that we expect him to make but a good striker still has to be in those positions and he was.

SUBSTITUTES:

Neither of the substitutes, namely Shinji Kagawa (for Dembélé), André Schürrle (for Aubameyang) and Matthias Ginter (for Sokratis) played enough minutes to get a rating.