Atalanta's Nikola Krstović shows his forehead after dramatic last-minute penalty against BVB
Atalanta won a last-second penalty to eliminate Borussia Dortmund, but Nikola Krstović paid the price.
Atalanta is the only Italian team in Champions League round of 16, following the eliminations of Inter Milan and Juventus, after achieving a big comeback from two goals down against Borussia Dortmund. Atalanta scored 3 to turn the knockout around, with goals by Scamacca, Zappacosta, and Pasalic, but Dortmund's substitute Karim Adeyemi scored and seemed to force overtime.
But then, something dramatic happened: Ramy Bensebaini failed to clear the ball and instead hit Nikola Krstović's forehead, his studs making the Atalanta player bleed, at nearly 4+ minutes into added time.
The penalty was the last kick of the match, and Lazar Samardzic did not miss. After a VAR revision from referee José María Sánchez Bensebaini saw a second yellow card for his reckless action and was sent off.
Nikola Krstović, 25-year-old Montenegrin who previously played at Lecce and Red Star Belgrade before joining Atalanta in 2025, later showed how his forehead was after the kick. "It's only a scratch", he said.
Atalanta's next rival, to be announced in the draw on Friday at 12:00 CET, 11:00 GMT, will be Arsenal or Bayern Munich.
