Fiorentina 2 Monchengladbach 4: Lars Stindl hat-trick spurs German visitors to 4-3 aggregate triumph
Gladbach captain single-handedly wipes out first leg Europa League deficit to put his side on glory trail
A Lars Stindl hat-trick put Fiorentina to the sword to give Borussia Moenchengladbach a 4-3 aggregate Europa League win in the round of 32.
The 28-year-old struck in the 44th, 47th and 55th minutes after the home side had gone two-up through Nicola Kalinic and Valero Iglesias.
Andreas Christensen put the icing on the cake for the German side in a ding-dong battle.
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Stindl opened up with a penalty and then there was no stopping him as Gladbach put their 1-0 first leg deficit behind them to progress to the next round.
The German side had a huge mountain to climb when some sloppy defending allowed Kalinic to open the scoring.
A charging run through the middle by Federico Bernadeshchi was topped off by a wonderful pass into the striker's path who made no mistake.
And the tie looked all-but over when Valero pounced on a comical mistake by Jannick Vestergaard to give the Serie A side a 3-0 advantage.
But the comeback was on when Max Olivera pulled down his opponent leaving Stindl to score the spot.
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Moments into the second half Moenchengladbach had a second when Stindl stabbed home at the back post from a corner.
Unbelievably by the 53rd minute Stindl had his and his side's third when Jonas Hoffman's clever free-kick was drilled home.
As the Serie A side pushed for a way back into the game knowing they were going out on the away goals, Christensen topped off a fairytale night for the visitors when he headed in from close range.