Real Madrid entered Signal Iduna Park with a comfortable 3-0 first leg lead against a Bundesliga side in Borussia Dortmund beseiged by injuries. Their passage into the semifinals was all but assured.
Yet in the end, Los Blancos were made to sweat by the hosts before advancing with a narrow 3-2 aggregate win.
Dortmund welcomed back striker Robert Lewandowski, who missed the first leg due to suspension while Madrid opted to start the match with Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench (the Ballon d’Or winner had picked up a knee injury in the first leg).
Madrid should have put away Dortmund for good early on when they were awarded a penalty in the 18th minute. But Angel Di Maria’s effort from the spot was weak and rather easily saved by Roman Weidenfeller. It seemed to breathe new life into the home side and six minutes later Dortmund was on the board as Marco Reus take advantage of a Pepe mistake. Reus would add a second goal before half-time thanks to another defensive blunder by the visitors to give the home crowd belief that they could complete this incredible comeback.
The second half was pretty much one-way traffic as Dortmund went all out for the goal that would even the tie on aggregate. But Henrikh Mkhitaryan will have many sleepless nights, spurning two glorious chances including firing a shot against the post in the 65th minute after rounding Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
That proved to be the best chance at a equalizer as Real hung tough at the end (thanks to the work of Casillas, who was a very busy keeper in the second half) to reach the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year.
Leave a Reply