Carlos Tevez scored twice and set up Alvaro Morata as Juventus crushed Borussia 3-0 in Dortmund. Their first-leg advantage allowed them to focus on defending in Dortmund and they performed their task to perfection. Jurgen Kloppa s men never even came close to troubling Gianluigi Buffon as Juventus happily sat back and conceded possession, with Dortmund having zero shots on target in the opening 45 minutes. The Bundesliga side seemed to lack a clear gameplan and were devoid of ideas. Dortmunda s main dangerman, Marco Reus, was hardly involved, while fellow attackers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Kevin Kampl were all anonymous. Max Allegri leads the Old Lady through to the Champions League quarter-finals thanks to a 5-1 aggregate triumph. The Bianconeri won the first leg 2-1, but Andrea Pirlo, Martin Caceres, Kwadwo Asamoah and Romulo were sidelined. Jurgen Klopp dropped Ciro Immobile to the bench against his old club and opted for Sokratis Papastathopoulos at right-back.
The visitors took little time in silencing a rocking Westfalenstadion as Tevez unleashed a fierce drive from fully 30 yards out that flew past a startled Roman Weidenfeller in Dortmunda s goal for his sixth goal in just eight Champions League games this season. However, while the Argentinea s strike was impressive, the goalkeeper will no doubt be disappointed to have been beaten from such a long range out, the first goal Weidenfeller had conceded at home in 216 minutes. And that stunning strike appeared to knock the stuffing out of Dortmund, at least for the first half of the opening period, as Juve went in search of a second goal to kill off the home teama s resistance. In fact, Swiss right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner very nearly provided it after 17 minutes with a 35-yard piledriver that forced a nervy looking Weidenfeller into a desperate save, but gradually Dortmund worked themselves into the encounter, helped by an untimely hamstring injury to Juventus playmaker Paul Pogba just before the half-hour mark. Juventus, unbeaten in their last 12 matches away from home in all competitions, were never threatened by toothless Dortmund who had high hopes of overturning their first-leg defeat in Turin. Dortmund failed to have a shot on target for more than an hour and only some smart second-half saves by Roman Weidenfeller prevented a heavier defeat.
It was Dortmund’s fourth loss in four European games against Juventus. Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri had promised his side wouldn’t sit back despite the first leg advantage. His players stayed true to his word and Tevez in particular looked like he was a man on a mission. After the break, Juventus pushed high up the pitch and snuffing out Dortmund’s response before it could even begin. Paul Pogba had gone off injured before that, prompting a period of Dortmund pressure. The visitors were the only ones who created chances however, with Vidal firing over. Fans made their frustration known in the first half, with confidence-hit midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan a particular target. There were more loud whistles at the break. Hard as they pressed in search of the two goals they needed to take the tie into extra time, Jurgen Kloppa s side just could not find a way past a well-marshalled and disciplined Juventus defence. Oliver Kirch, who had been tipped to start, came on for the second half, moving Sokratis Papastathopoulos to the left. As the match headed into the second half and the clock continued to tick away, so Dortmund became more desperate, with spaces at the back beginning to appear with increasing regularity. Weidenfeller twice denied Morata from point-blank range early in the second half but Juventus, who enjoy a runaway 14-point lead at the top of Serie A, scored again when Tevez raced clear and cut back for the Spanish striker to tap home. Tevez then completed his superb performance by scoring from just inside the box with 11 minutes remaining. Spain international Alvaro Morata should have killed the game as a contest when presented with two glorious chances in the space of five minutes early in the second half, only for Weidenfeller to deny the striker on both occasions with smart blocks in one-on-one situations. But those two misses were not to prove costly to the Serie A champions as Morata put the tie out of sight after 70 minutes after Tevez broke clear of Dortmunda s malfunctioning back line, before the diminutive forward laid a goal on a plate for his strike partner. Nine minutes later and Tevez inflicted yet more pain on Dortmund and their fans after fine approach from Argentine midfielder Roberto Pereyra, who slipped his compatriot through on goal before the 31-year-old made no mistake in netting his 23rd goal of the campaign to seal Juvea s place in the quarter-finals.
Carlos Tevez once more proved to be the difference maker he has already shown to be on more than one occasion since joining Juventus from Manchester City. The Argentina international has not always been on top of his game in the Champions League, scoring just three times in his first 28 appearances in the competition, but he has been key to Juvea s resurgence this term. Tevez not only scored twice on Wednesday to make it four from his last four UCL games, but he also set up Alvaro Morata for his sidea s third, while causing the Dortmund defence all kinds of trouble in a man-of-the-match performance. This weeka s encounter by no means turns Juventus into one of the favourites to win the competition, but they have without a doubt shown that they are a force to be reckoned with once more. No longer is there a difference between the dominant Juventus from Serie A and the insecure Juventus from the Champions League. Allegria s men are a threat, one that no team will enjoy facing. Massimiliano Allegri’s side – twice winners of the competition – will be an opponent few will relish being paired with in Friday’s draw as with a 14-point cushion in Serie A, they can afford to focus fully on a tilt at a first European Cup win since 1996. These are happy times for fans of the Old Lady. Five years ago to the day they were beaten 4-1 by Fulham in the Europa League but they have won their domestic title every year since and have conceded just 14 goals so far as they close in on another inevitable Scudetto this year.