Monaco end 13-year wait for Champions League semi-final spot
Ligue 1 leaders take apart below par Borussia Dortmund side after kick-off is delayed for security reasons
Monaco 3 Borussia Dortmund 1 (Monaco win 6-3 on aggregate)
As Monaco strolled into the semi-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday night, reaching the last four of the competition for the first time since 2004 thanks to one of their more complete performances of the season.
Goals from Kylian Mbappe and Manchester United flop Radamel Falcao effectively killed the tie off in the first 17 minutes of Wednesday's return leg at Stade Louis II. They stretched the Ligue 1 side's aggregate lead to 5-2, and with the benefit of three away goals.
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Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel appeared to attribute his side's slow start to scenes before the game. The German team's bus was held without moving for around 20 minutes. The incident meant that kick-off was pushed back by five minutes, with Tuchel admitting that the nerves around the situation put the players in an 'awkward' mindset after last week's bomb attack on his matchday squad for the first leg.
"If you don't want to have a situation like last week you don't want this situation – the same team in the bus," he lamented. "We stood there for 16, 17 minutes. I had the feeling we were focused and full of joy and happiness to play this game. Then suddenly there were awkward mindsets going around."
The German manager changed his tactics swiftly when his team went 2-0 down, bringing on wonderkid Ousmane Dembele for Erik Durm after just 27 minutes. That decision paid dividends just after half-time when a scything run from the French teenager set up a goal for Marco Reus, giving the away side the faintest glimmer of hope.
They couldn't build on that hope though. A normally loose Monaco side defended stoutly before wrapping up the tie for good when Valere Germain scored in the 81st minute, just 22 seconds after coming off the bench to replace the impressive Mbappe.
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