Sebastien Haller Hands Dortmund Lifeline With First UCL Goal Against Atletico Madrid

• Sebastien Haller scored a crucial goal for Dortmund against Atletico Madrid
• The Ivory Coast forward came on in the second half of the UCL clash in Spain
• Dortmund will host Atletico in the second leg of their quarter-final in Germany

Ivory Coast forward Sebastien Haller scored his first UEFA Champions League goal for Borussia Dortmund in their quarter-final clash against Atletico Madrid.

The Africa Cup of Nations winner climbed off the bench to score a crucial away goal with nine minutes remaining as Dortmund lost 2-1 at the Civitas Metropolitano.

Dortmund will host Atletico Madrid in the second leg at Signal Iduna Park with hopes of reaching the semi-final with an aggregate win.

Haller, who has battled injuries since the start of the season, replaced Niklas Fullkrug with 30 minutes remaining, going on to reduce the deficit before the second leg.

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In a video shared on social media, Haller profited from a poor clearance as he quickly turned to fire home past Jan Oblak.

Meanwhile, the Spanish giants raced into a two-goal lead in the first half after Rodrigo de Paul and Samuel Lino scored within the first 30 minutes of the match.

Haller will be hoping to stay fit and start the second leg as Dortmund eyes a place in the semi-final for the first time since 2013, per the UEFA.

Atletico Madrid beat Dortmund in Spain

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Atletico Madrid earned a 2-1 Champions League quarter-final first-leg victory over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, surviving a late onslaught from the visitors.

Rodrigo De Paul and Samuel Lino's first-half goals gave Diego Simeone's side a commanding lead, but Sebastien Haller pulled one back to give the German side a foothold in the tie ahead of next week's return in Dortmund.

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Edin Terzic's side, fifth in the Bundesliga, improved greatly after a slow start and hit the woodwork twice in the final stages of a match which saw security measures reinforced after the Islamic State (IS) group made threats against stadiums used for last-eight ties.

Dortmund gives Haller heroic welcome

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Sebastien Haller received a kingly welcome following his return to Borussia Dortmund as an Africa Cup of Nations winner.

The Dortmund forward scored the winner as Ivory Coast came from a goal down to beat Nigeria and win their third AFCON title.

Having missed the opening round of games due to injury, the 29-year-old proved important for the Elephants, netting the winner in the semi-final against DR Congo and the decisive goal against the Super Eagles.