Kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes after the Dortmund team bus arrived late due to traffic, but the hosts made up for lost time with a lightning-quick start.
Barely two minutes had been played when Julian Ryerson - fresh from claiming all four assists in Friday’s 4-0 Bundesliga win over Mainz 05 - whipped in a delicious cross for Serhou Guirassy, and Dortmund’s top scorer headed home his 16th goal of the season across all competitions.
Both teams were aiming to avoid a third successive defeat in the competition, and Atalanta went agonisingly close to an equaliser midway through the half when Mario Pasalic was inches away from converting Nicola Zalewski’s ball across the face of goal.
Ryerson’s early assist took his tally for the campaign to 14 in all competitions, and he should have had another when Waldemar Anton headed over from the Norwegian’s free-kick.
Dortmund did double the lead moments later, though, as Guirassy made it 20 goal contributions in all tournaments (G16, A4) for the campaign when he raced clear and squared for Maximilian Beier to tap home his second goal in as many games.
Atalanta could take comfort in the fact that nine of their 10 goals in the league phase came after half-time, but the early stages of the second half followed a familiar pattern as they failed to trouble Gregor Kobel.
Instead, the hosts looked more likely to score next as Dortmund captain Julian Brandt sliced over the crossbar from close range when a corner fell his way.
As the game approached its climax, Niko Kovac’s side were happy to sit back and soak up pressure, with 18-year-old defender Luca Reggiani especially impressive as he closed out a clean sheet on his UCL debut.
This result puts Dortmund in a commanding position ahead of the second leg in eight days’ time, when Die Schwarzgelben will be confident of progressing from a two-legged tie against Italian opposition for the first time in four attempts in this competition.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Serhou Guirassy (Dortmund)
