Last-gasp penalty sends Atalanta past Dortmund and into last 16

BERGAMO, Italy, Feb 25 : Lazar Samardzic smashed home a stoppage-time penalty to complete a dramatic 4-1 victory for Atalanta over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, sending the Italian side into the Champions League's last 16 with a comeback 4-3 aggregate triumph.

Dortmund's Ramy Bensebaini was sent off after his studs caught the head of Atalanta's Nikola Krstovic in the penalty area and Samardzic converted the spot kick in the 98th minute to send the Italians through. Atalanta will now face either Arsenal or Bayern Munich in the round of 16 with the draw on Friday.

"Everyone had written us off, but this match showed once again how strong this group is," said Atalanta scorer and man-of-the-match Davide Zappacosta. "We always believe and we never give up."

"Being the underdog gives you extra motivation. You try to go beyond your limits to turn things around, and we knew we could do it. It was very difficult, but we’ve shown many times how strong we are at home," he said.

The defeat ended Dortmund's European dreams, but Niko Kovac's team, second in the Bundesliga, will need to bounce back quickly ahead of Saturday's league match against leaders Bayern Munich, their last chance to challenge for any silverware this season.

"When you concede four goals in the playoffs, it becomes difficult to advance," said Dortmund captain Emre Can. "With so many individual errors, it's hard to advance. We also had several clear-cut chances that we didn't convert."

The hosts had to fight back following last week's 2-0 loss in Germany, and Gianluca Scamacca tapped in at the far post to give them a fifth-minute lead as they got off to a dream start.

Dortmund had their share of chances but it was their keeper, Gregor Kobel, who was busiest in the first