Former manager Eduard Geyer has ripped into Borussia Dortmund for their 4-1 Champions League loss to Atalanta at the Gewiss Stadium, where Bayern Munich walked away with a colossal 6-1 victory just a few weeks later.
The BVB saw their European campaign end following a dramatic collapse in the second leg after having led 2-0 from the first leg. Niko Kovac's side were widely expected to progress to the last-16, but were instead dealt a massive shock.
With La Dea leading 3-1 in stoppage-time, Dortmund's fate was sealed after conceding a penalty that Lazar Samardzic converted to add a fourth goal and give his side the aggregate lead as Atalanta completed a comeback for the ages.
Their reward was a daunting fixture against Dortmund's eternal rivals Bayern Munich, who came to Gewiss Stadium just two weeks after that memorable night and crushed the Serie A side in a clinical 6-1 demolition.
The stark contrast in results has Geyer wondering what went wrong for Dortmund. Speaking to German outlet 'kicker', the 81-year-old slammed the Black and Yellows for their astounding collapse against Atalanta.
"“The only surprise was the clarity of the victory, and you have to wonder what was going on with Borussia Dortmund the round before, that they went down 1-4 at the same ground.”"said Geyer.
Gli Orobici came flying out of the blocks in the match and went in front after only five minutes into the kick-off through Gianluca Scamacca. Davide Zappacosta made it 2-0 just before the break as Dortmund's night got worse.
But there was more misery to follow in the second half as Mario Pasalic put Atalanta in front on aggregate with a third, though Karim Adeyemi's strike just a few minutes later restored parity for Dortmund.
With no further breakthrough, the match was potentially heading towards extra-time but the visitors conceded a penalty after Ramy Bensebaini knocked Samardzic on the head with his boots as the referee pointed to the penalty spot.
Samardzic made no mistake, sending Gregor Kobel the wrong way as Atalanta prevailed 4-3 on aggregate and booked a place in the round of 16. But their celebrations were cut short after Bayern crushed them 6-1 last week in the first leg of their tie.
Geyer heaped praise on Bayern for their success in Europe but also highlighted the gulf in quality between them and the rest of the Bundesliga.
""Behind FC Bayern, who have represented us so well on the international stage for years, the gap in quality in the Bundesliga is enormous.""he added.