Dortmund’s scoreless draw with Sporting puts them in the round of sixteen.
DORTMUND, Germany — Borussia Dortmund easily drew 0-0 with Sporting in the second leg of their knockout phase playoff on Wednesday, giving the runners-up from the previous season a 3-0 aggregate victory and sending them to the round of 16 of the Champions League.
In the round of 16, Dortmund will either play Aston Villa or Lille; the opponents will be determined by Friday’s draw.
Sporting appeared content to sit back and wait for a chance to respond, even though they were behind 3-0 from the first leg.
As a precaution, Sporting left their top scorer, Viktor Gyokeres, at home. Despite struggling with a thigh injury recently, the striker, who has scored 34 goals in 36 games this season, played over the weekend, and his absence was a sign of their resignation.
The hosts had the first opportunity when Marcel Sabitzer attempted a long-range shot but it missed the far post.
In an attempt to score his first goal of the season, Sabitzer found himself outside the area once more. This time, Sporting keeper Rui Silva was called upon to parry the ball away for a corner.
When Silva took down Karim Adeyemi 13 minutes after the half, Dortmund was given a penalty. However, the Sporting goalie made amends by saving Serhou Guirassy’s penalty kick, preventing the top scorer in the Champions League this season from scoring his 11th goal of the season.
When sent through with only the keeper to beat, substitute Giovanni Reyna had a great chance to break the deadlock for the home team, but he struck the upright and missed the rebound.
Dortmund, who have dropped their last two league games—the first two under new manager Niko Kovac—move on in Europe despite Emre Can’s header that was chalked off for offside.
In contrast, Sporting’s performance has continued to deteriorate dramatically since Ruben Amorim left to take over Manchester United in November.
Sporting finished second in the league after winning three of their four games under Amorim.
Their European adventure ended in an unimpressive manner, and they have lost five of six games since his departure, failing to win a European match.