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Aubameyang double keeps Dortmund top

AUBEMAYANG-GALATASARAYISTANBUL, October 23-Borussia Dortmund brushed off their miserable Bundesliga campaign to demolish Galatasaray 4-0 in Istanbul on Wednesday to record their third consecutive Champions League win in stunning style.

The 2013 Champions League finalists are top of Group D with nine points, three clear of second-placed Arsenal who won 2-1 at Anderlecht, and have yet to concede a goal in Europe this season.

A double from Gabon winger Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, plus goals from Marco Reus and Adrian Ramos preserved Dortmund’s perfect record in Europe so far this season.

Jurgen Klopp’s side can book their place in the knock-out phase with another win over Galatasaray in Dortmund in the return leg in a fortnight.

“We were able to play the way we wanted to play and the early goal helped of course,” said Klopp.

“Aubameyang was the first choice for the game and he took his chance. We were super-concentrated in defence and we have a very good situation now in the group.”

Dortmund’s high-flying Champions League form is in stark contrast to their horror showing in the Bundesliga where they are languishing 14th in the table after three straight defeats.

Klopp’s side are winless in their last five league games and he slammed Borussia for playing “senseless football” in Saturday’s shock 2-1 defeat at Cologne.

“We’ll enjoy tonight, but the main thing now is playing well against Hanover 96 in the league on Saturday,” insisted Klopp.

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It was all smiles from the Dortmund boss in Istanbul as his team backed up their 2-0 win at home to Arsenal and 3-0 victory at Anderlecht to run Galatasaray ragged.

“We played with a lot of concentration, had no problems in defence and our fast breaks were very dangerous,” said Dortmund captain Matts Hummels.

The victory was largely down to an impressive display from Aubameyang who scored twice and hit the post in the opening half an hour.

The 25-year-old wasted no time as he finished a brilliant counter-attack with only nine minutes gone.

Reus beat Aurelien Chedjou to the ball on the left before firing in a pin-point pass to Aubameyang, who was left with a simple tap in at the back post.

The visitors soon doubled the lead when Lukasz Piszczek crossed from the right and the ball bounced up to the perfect height for Aubameyang to tap in from close range with 18 minutes gone.

Only the post denied the Gabon international a hat-trick on 31 minutes when Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s cross was met by Aubameyang, but the ball ricocheted away to safety.

Dortmund were not to be denied a 3-0 lead at the break.

Reus unleashed a spectacular long-range shot from outside the area which dipped over Galatasaray’s Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera on 41 minutes.

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Klopp’s side claimed their ninth goal of the campaign and their fourth of the night when Ramos scored just a minute after coming off the bench.

Ilkay Gundogan, who was playing his first Champions League game since the 2013 final after more than a year out with injury, provided the pass and Ramos crashed home his shot on 83 minutes.

Dortmund’s victory rounded off an impressive week in the Champions League for Bundesliga sides.

On Tuesday, Bayern Munich demolished Roma 7-1 in the Italian capital, and Schalke edged 10-man Sporting Lisbon 4-3.

Bayer Leverkusen earned a 2-0 win at home to Zenit St Peterburg on Wednesday.

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