Brilliant in the first leg and brave in the second, Borussia Dortmund
advanced to the UEFA Champions League final on Tuesday, but only after
fighting off Real Madrid over 10 final, frantic minutes.
Real Madrid won the match at its Santiago Bernabéu stadium, 2-0, on
goals by Karim Benzema in the 83rd minute and Sergio Ramos in the 88th.
But Dortmund advanced on aggregate, 4-3, on the strength of its 4-1
victory in the first leg. That lead, seemingly insurmountable a week
ago, proved to be just large enough.
The late goals, part of a flurry of chances in the last 10 minutes,
and five tense minutes of added time, brought the stadium to life after a
frustrating night that saw Real Madrid dominate at times but misfire
again and again. In the first 15 minutes alone, Ángel Di María and
Cristiano Ronaldo shot high, Mesut Özil fired wide and Gonzalo Higuaín
hit the Dortmund goalkeeper in the chest with a shot.
Allowed up off the mat, Dortmund steadied itself and nearly turned
the tables. Robert Lewandowski, who had all four goals in the first leg,
hit the crossbar in the 50th minute, and Ilkay Gündogan — staring at a
gaping net in the 61st — managed to hit the only obstacle that would
have kept out his shot: the scrambling goalkeeper Diego López.
The late entry of Benzema, Kaká and Sami Khedira brought life to
Madrid’s frustrated attack, and a comeback seemed possible when Benzema
redirected a cross from Özil. When Ramos scored into the top of the net
five minutes later, as the crowd chanted “sí se puede!” (“yes we can!”),
it even seemed likely. But Dortmund hunkered down and held on,
advancing to the Champions League final for the first time since it won
the title in 1997.
They are expected to meet their Bundesliga rival Bayern Munich, which
will take a 4-0 aggregate lead into its second-leg match at Barcelona
on Wednesday. No team has come back to win after losing the first leg by
four goals, but as Dortmund learned Tuesday, no lead is safe until the
final whistle.
Real Madrid Manager José Mourinho, widely expected to leave the club
to return to England’s Premier League next season, blamed his team’s
performance in the first leg for its fate.
“We have been punished for that,” Mourinho said, “not for tonight.”
To follow the game as it happened, read on. And make sure to come
back Wednesday for the other second-leg semifinal: Bayern Munich at
Barcelona.
London Calling
Madrid can have no complaints about losing this semifinal to
Dortmund. OK, it was a rip-roaring finish and Madrid needed only one
more goal to get through. But in this last-four tie, Madrid has been
truly dominant for only the first 15 and last 15 minutes of the match in
the Bernabéu. The best Madrid managed in Dortmund was to control
possession for a 15 minute spell before halftime. So if this were
boxing, and each half was a round, I’d score it three rounds to one for
Dortmund. Also, over four games in the competition between the teams,
Madrid lost twice away and won one and played to a draw at home.
Dortmund showed it was the better team head-to-head.
What you can say is that Madrid gave it a real go today. After failing to convert those early chances, it looked like the game was petering out, but Madrid kept pushing and eventually got a couple of goals to make it interesting.
Dortmund could easily have scored a handful. Lewandowski seemed determined to spurn every chance that came his way – almost as though he was taking pity on Madrid for having put them to the sword so ruthlessly last week. But then, this was one of those games where tactics go out the window in the final frantic minutes. Madrid had Ramos playing center forward in a formation that was something like 3-2-5. Dortmund countered that with an unorthodox 6-3-1 lineup. The dream of a 10th European crown for Madrid ends. For Dortmund, a trip to Wembley for the final on May 25 awaits.
Can Bayern Munich make it an all-German final by finishing the job against Barcelona tomorrow?
— Mark Walsh
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/champions-league-semifinals-matchday-3-dortmund-at-real-madrid/
What you can say is that Madrid gave it a real go today. After failing to convert those early chances, it looked like the game was petering out, but Madrid kept pushing and eventually got a couple of goals to make it interesting.
Dortmund could easily have scored a handful. Lewandowski seemed determined to spurn every chance that came his way – almost as though he was taking pity on Madrid for having put them to the sword so ruthlessly last week. But then, this was one of those games where tactics go out the window in the final frantic minutes. Madrid had Ramos playing center forward in a formation that was something like 3-2-5. Dortmund countered that with an unorthodox 6-3-1 lineup. The dream of a 10th European crown for Madrid ends. For Dortmund, a trip to Wembley for the final on May 25 awaits.
Can Bayern Munich make it an all-German final by finishing the job against Barcelona tomorrow?
— Mark Walsh
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/champions-league-semifinals-matchday-3-dortmund-at-real-madrid/
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