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Some clinical quality on the break from Cristiano Ronaldo was enough to tip the balance at Signal Iduna Park, with Los Blancos enjoying the chance to play in a very open game in the Champions League. Domestically, they often face frustration, as opponents sit deep and look to counter, but Dortmund's gung-ho style suited Real Madrid down to the ground.
Gareth Bale looked bright for the away side, who impressed with their direct, counter-attacking approach in Germany. The hosts looked to play on the front foot and sit high upfield, but their mentality backfired somewhat.
And here is how the players of the two teams fared last night...
Borussia Dortmund
Roman Burki - 7/10
Made one excellent save low down to his right-hand side, and was very quick off his line to ensure that his high defensive line wasn’t constantly exploited. Had little chance with the Real Madrid goals.
Lukasz Piszczek - 6/10
Covered across from right back well, but didn’t get to have the impact in the opposition half that he might usually expect. Given plenty to think about, with Ronaldo and Bale switching position fairly regularly in Real Madrid’s front two.
Sokratis - 5/10
Struggled to deal with the pace and power of Gareth Bale on the break, with the Greek defender perhaps better when allowed to tightly mark a player in a deeper scenario.
Omer Toprak - 5/10
Similarly to his central-defensive teammate, Toprak found himself chasing back to his own goal frighteningly regularly, with Dortmund’s high-risk line picked apart by Real Madrid well. Bosz’s tactics looked to be a gamble, and so they proved to be.
Jeremy Toljan - 5/10
Very keen to press on down the left-hand side and provide an offensive outlet for the home side, but he neglected his defensive duties slightly. Dani Carvajal was permitted the space to hare forward on the counter, a tough night for the youngster.
Gonzalo Castro - 7/10
Provided energy in midfield in a very hectic midfield battle, where both teams often opted to play very verticall. Very neat on the ball and rarely made any mistakes, with the German midfielder also tenacious when trying to hunt for possession too.
Nuri Sahin - 6/10
Composed and useful with the ball, but the pace of the game did not suit Sahin when opponents were haring forward at pace on the break. Defensively, he struggled to make an impact, with his deep-lying midfield presence sacrificed when Dortmund went looking for the goals required for equalisers.
Mario Gotze - 6/10
Slightly disappointing performance from the Germany international, as his final ball did not come to fruition at Signal Iduna Park. Saw quite a lot of possession, but he didn’t manage to make much happen in the final third, nor on the run.
Andriy Yarmolenko - 6/10
A threat whenever he was allowed to consider checking in from the right-hand side. The Ukraine star was positive and would look to beat Nacho, as well as curling some searching balls in towards the back-post area too.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 6/10
Fired home a finish to make it 2-1 on the night, with the Gabonese striker having plenty of half chances to make something happen. If anything, he should have left the field with a second, but his composure in front of goal let him down.
Maximilian Philipp - 4/10
Struggled to make anything happen on the counter attack, with the German winger careless in possession at times. He didn’t have any luck out of going up against Dani Carvajal at all and his ambitious efforts didn't come to anything either.
Subs
Mohamed Dahoud - 6/10
Tried to take a few more risks with possession in the last 20 minutes of the contest, with the youngster keen to carry the ball and try to penetrate on the edge of the penalty box.
Julian Weigl - 6/10
Booked for one very poor challenge. Tried to get his foot on the ball and help Dortmund find themselves in midfield, but Ronaldo’s second goal gave Real Madrid the confidence to shut up shop and sit back to see the result out.
Christian Pulisic - N/A
Didn’t see a great deal of the ball, and didn’t really get the chance to do much in the game.
Real Madrid
Keylor Navas - 6/10
Made three saves with the Costa Rica international bizarrely not having a great deal to do in a very busy game. His back four came to his rescue on multiple occasions, whether it was goal-line blocks or last-ditch sliding challenges.
Dani Carvajal - 8/10
Tireless up and down the right-hand side while providing plenty of attacking output in the first half. After Ronaldo’s second goal of the evening, the Spain international sat a little deeper with his job already done. Loved galloping into space on the break.
Sergio Ramos - 7/10
Made one key block on the line in the first half for Los Blancos, with the pace of Aubameyang causing the Real Madrid captain a few issues. Physicality and last-ditch defending was needed at times, which is the type of situations where he usually flourishes.
Raphael Varane - 7/10
His pace was key to the away side’s rearguard action, as his covering presence helped to bail his teammates out of trouble at times. His long legs make some key interceptions in a very open game, where Dortmund were constantly looking to get in behind their opponent’s lines.
Nacho - 8/10
Slid into one particular last-ditch tackle that saved a certain goal for Real Madrid, with the Spaniard covering across and using his pace and anticipation well to help try and nullify the threat of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Toni Kroos - 7/10
His set-piece deliveries were not quite as dangerous as usual, but the German midfielder’s technical ability was key in trying to slow the game down slightly late on. Kroos and Modric combined well at times to take the sting out of proceedings.
Casemiro - 7/10
Down to the hectic and end-to-end nature of the game, the Brazilian didn’t have the opportunity to exert the usual presence that he usuall does. Casemiro sat at the base of the midfield and kept things simple, sitting in to help his side close out a positive away result.
Luka Modric - 7/10
Picked up a harsh yellow card in the first half, but was always positive on the ball. Tried to carry possession at pace to carry Real Madrid upfield quickly to exploit their opponent’s high line. It may not have been his best performance for the Whites, but the Croatian competed well.
Isco - 6/10
Did not have as much of the ball as he may normally be used to, given the pace and intense nature of the game, but his vision and positivity in possession were useful in trying to pick holes in a very high defensive line from Dortmund.
Gareth Bale - 8/10
Opened the scoring with a lovely finish in the first half, lifting the ball over Roman Burki with ease. Pulled out to the left quite often, with his left foot proving to be useful to feed Ronaldo with. Went down claiming a penalty while through on goal, but was told to get up.
Cristiano Ronaldo - 9/10
Thumped home two great finishes to help Real Madrid on their way to a vital three points. Had plenty of space to drive into on the counter attack, and his clinical finishing ensured that Peter Bosz’ men were penalised for leaving themselves open at the back.
Subs
Marco Asensio - 6/10
Saw a late, bursting run denied by the onrushing presence of Burki, before forcing Piszczek into a good back-post intervention to prevent the substitute netting the fourth of the evening with just a few minutes to go.
Lucas Vazquez - N/A
Introduced for the last five minutes of normal time, sitting in on the right-hand side to offer Carvajal a little more protection.
Dani Ceballos - N/A
Introduced into the game to run down the clock and take the sting out of the game in stoppage time.
