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Juventus eliminate Dortmund from Champions League
Dortmund: Juventus qualified for the Champions League quarterfinals following a 3-0 victory against Dortmund in the second leg of the last 16 here.
Carlos Tevez’ brace and Alvaro Morata’s goal sealed Dortmund’s exit from the Round of last 16 on Wednesday on home soil. Meanwhile, Juventus reached the quarters for the second time in three years, as per reports.
Juergen Klopp’s men never recovered from Juventus’ early goal through Tevez, who has large shares on the BVB’s highest defeat in the Champions League.
The visitors from Italy caught a bright start as Tevez shocked the hosts with the opener in the third minute. Dortmund failed to clear the ball from their own territory. Tevez collected the ball to hammer home from 25 metres into the top left.
Juventus implemented a fast break strategy as Dortmund were unable to gain a foothold as their offence lacked penetration.
Morata worked out two promising opportunities after the restart. Yet Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller was on guard twice to deny the Italians the second goal.
Kevin Kampl tested Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon moments later for the first time before the visitors punished the BVB for a malfunctioning offside trap (70th minute). Tevez made use of a through ball to run up to Weidenfeller before he square passed to Morata, who tapped into the empty net.
Tevez was not done as he crowned his powerful performance with a brace nine minutes later, marking the final 3-0 score.
“We were absolutely harmless and lacked in penetration. Juventus was clearly better than us. We now have to focus on Bundesliga,” Dortmund coach Klopp said.
The draw for the quarterfinals is scheduled for Friday in Nyon, Switzerland.
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.