Marco Reus hits hat trick as Dortmund destroy Odds, advance to group stage

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Thomas Tuchel pronounced himself "generally happy" after his Borussia Dortmund side crushed Odds BK 7-2 in their Europa League qualifier second leg on Thursday.

Marco Reus scored a hat trick and Shinji Kagawa a brace as Tuchel's men enjoyed a comfortable 11-5 aggregate victory to put themselves in the competition's group stage, and the new Dortmund coach predictably expressed satisfaction with his side's performance on the night.

"I was generally happy. We started off well, before conceding the obligatory goal. Their first shot was their first goal. After that we played consistently well, finding space and creating goal-scoring chances. There was a good rhythm to our game. The boys are looking alert and fresh, showing a strong desire to win," the former Mainz manager said.

Ole Jorgen Halvorsen gave Odds an early 1-0 lead right before the 20-minute mark, but Dortmund stormed back with six unanswered goals starting with a Henrikh Mkhitaryan strike in the 25th minute.

Reus added two of his three -- one in the 27th and one in the 31st -- to effectively end the match with 60 minutes left to play.

"They're sticking to their guns, exerting themselves more and more all the time. We put it in right til the end of the second half, with two huge chances which could have got us to 7-1, but instead achieving 6-2," Tuchel said.

"Then we began to slack a little. The team must've had it in the back of their minds that they had to play again on Sunday. Up until the 70th minute we were formidable. We were dominant and determined."

Dortmund, who will host Bundesliga rivals Hertha Berlin on Sunday, were surprised by Odds in the first leg and went down 3-0 early in Norway, but then responded and won that match by a 4-3 final before returning home to deliver Thursday's heavy defeat -- one Reus feels was a fair reward for their superiority.

"We were the better team. It was a shame that we conceded such a careless goal at the start, but it was just a question of time before we scored a goal," Reus said after the match.

"In the second half we took the tempo down a notch. However, we couldn't afford to stand back. We carried out our task effectively with the following three goals and maintained our rhythm."

The German international, however, still sees room for improvement depsite the lopsided victory.

"We're now well-prepared for our Bundesliga game against Hertha on Sunday. We've found good ways of working together -- we haven't reached our full potential yet -- but we're on our way there," he said.