DORTMUND SAFELY IN CL LAST 16 DESPITE GUIRASSY PENALTY MISS
Borussia Dortmund could afford wasting a penalty as a 0-0 home draw against Sporting on Wednesday saw them qualify comfortably for the last 16 in the Champions League 3-0 on aggregate.
Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva saved the well-placed but too weak spot kick from competition top scorer Serhou Guirassy in the 58th minute.
Last year's runners-up Dortmund had won the first leg of the play-off tie 3-0 in Lisbon last week, and Sporting were too harmless to mount a serious comeback challenge and rested top scorers Viktor Gyökeres und Francisco Trincao.
Dortmund had the better chances overall as apart from the penalty Marcel Sabitzer threatened twice in the first half, Rui Silva saved from Karim Adeyemi, Giovanni Reyna hit the post, and Emre Can's header into the net was nullified over a minimal offside position.
Dortmund took no unnecessary risks, and the two clean sheets against Sporting may give them morale to steady the ship in the Bundesliga.
There they have just one win from seven 2025 games, and lost the last two against VfB Stuttgart and struggling Bochum to languish in 11th place - eight points adrift of the top four guaranteeing a return into the next Champions League.
In the last 16, Dortmund will face either French side Lille or England's Aston Villa.
The other three games are later on Wednesday, highlighted by record winners and title holders Real Madrid v Manchester City, with Real 3-2 up.
Bayern Munich, Benfica, Club Brugge and Feyenoord qualified for the last 16 on Tuesday, with the draw set for Friday.