DORTMUND (AFP) – Borussia Dortmund were held to a 1-1 home draw by Lille in their Champions League last-16 first leg after a second-half equaliser from visiting midfielder Hakon Haraldsson.
Last season’s losing finalists were in control after Karim Adeyemi opened the scoring on 22 minutes, thumping in a low shot from the edge of the box.
But Lille striker Jonathan David took advantage of some sleepy Dortmund defending in the 68th minute, threading a ball through to Haraldsson, who was one-on-one with goalkeeper Gregor Kobel and poked home.
“The second half was not good at all. Too little intensity off the ball and too little ball possession,” Dortmund captain Emre Can told Amazon Prime.
“It wasn’t good enough today. But we can do better and we will.”
Dortmund will need to win in northern France next week should they wish to stay in Europe and salvage what has so far been a disappointing season.
“We should have done it here in front of the fans, who were really up for it,” said Adeyemi. For Lille, the result boosts their hopes of reaching a first-ever Champions League quarter-final.
“We played a good game today, especially in the second half,” said Lille coach Bruno Genesio.
“The 1-1 draw has put us in a very good position for the second leg. But we will have to deliver a very big game at home if we want to reach the quarter-finals.”
After a surprise run to Wembley last season, Dortmund have fallen back to earth this campaign.
Sitting 10th in the Bundesliga, they needed to navigate a two-legged play-off against Sporting Lisbon to reach the Champions League last 16.
With pre-season appointment Nuri Sahin sacked as coach in January, Dortmund have improved under former Bayern Munich, Monaco and Croatia boss Niko Kovac.
In six games under Kovac, Dortmund had kept four clean sheets and won back-to-back games in the league for the first time this term.
Lille’s reward for an incredible group phase, with wins over both Madrid clubs and Feyenoord and a draw with Juventus, was a trip to Dortmund.
