Lucescu concedes Dortmund superiority

Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu believes Borussia Dortmund deserved their 3-0 win over the Ukrainians on Tuesday.

Goals from Felipe Santana, Mario Goetze and Jakub Blaszczykowski saw the Bundesliga champions to a comfortable victory in the Champions League round-of-16 second leg at Signal Iduna Park.

It gave Juergen Klopp’s men a 5-2 aggregate victory, sealing their spot in the quarter-finals.

Lucescu conceded his team deserved nothing more from the second leg, rueing Santana’s opener which allowed the hosts to take control.

“Dortmund’s win was well deserved. Now they are through to the next round. It was a difficult game against a good opposition,” he said.

“Until the 30th minute we were hoping for a goal which we didn’t manage to score. We did not succeed in converting our scoring opportunities.

“Dortmund of course were controlling this game after taking the lead. For us it then became more difficult getting into the game. It was a deserved win for them.”

Lucescu urged his men to swing the momentum in the second half after going into the break 2-0 down, needing two goals to force extra-time.

He rued his side missing chances after the break and said he hoped Dortmund reached the final.

“At the half-time break I told the players that we needed to change the game, and you could see that on the field,” Lucescu said.

“We had our chances and it’s a pity that we didn’t take them.

“The mistake by our goalkeeper (for Dortmund’s third goal) meant it was all over. Overall, the result corresponds with what we all saw on the pitch.

“I hope Dortmund reach the final as they are a really strong side.”