Dortmund 4-1 Real Madrid: Dortmund win midfield battles as Lewandowski scores 4

Robert Lewandowski celebrates scoring his hat-trick with teammate Marcel Schmelzer during the UEFA Champions League semifinal first leg between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid at Signal Iduna Park on April 24, 2013 in Dortmund, Germany. (Getty Images)

In consecutive nights of complete German domination, Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid were humbled 4-1 by Borussia Dortmund at the Signal Iduna Park. The build up to the game had all been about Madrid’s ‘La Decima’ campaign and Jose’s salvation with the Blancos, but the uproar created by Robert Lewandowski’s goals left Madrid reeling.

Mourinho left Angel Di Maria out from the team that he had announced earlier, and in came Luka Modric. So Mesut Ozil was shifted to the right with Modric coming in as the advanced midfielder in the 4-3-3. Jurgen Klopp made slight tweaks by playing Ilkay Gundogan over captain Sebastian Kehl, and further shifted Marco Reus to the left by starting with Jakub “Kuba” B?aszczykowski rather than Kevin Grosskreutz. On paper Dortmund looked a 4-2-3-1 with Mario Gotze in the hole.

Dortmund are known for their quick passing and direct runners and this is what Klopp demanded right from the start of this game. Due to Ozil’s shift to the right, Modric made up the midfield trio for Madrid. Though this on paper showed that Jose had a man covering each one of Dortmund’s midfielders, the entire game shifted on the pressing and energy shown by Klopp’s lot.

Midfield battle won by the Germans as Modric doesn’t mark Gundogan

The battle between the trios was pretty simple; Xabi Alonso sat deep in midfield so as to cover Mario Gotze’s runs when Dortmund were on the ball. As per their usual tactic, Dortmund had Lewandowski also pressing the Real midfield and this left Alonso with passing back to the defence as the only option. Sami Khedira playing next to Alonso was much more adventurous from the deep and directly took on Sven Bender, who stopped Khedira in his tracks, but Ronaldo’s central drift would stop him later.

The one pairing that seemed much less intense on paper was Modric on Gundogan, but the Croatian’s lack of complete pressing on the German international allowed Gundogan to dominate from the early stages of the game. Bender started going out to meet Khedira’s runs and this left Gundogan as the player in front of the back 4. He was able to find Gotze and Reus with ease, as Modric only cared to press after he entered Madrid’s half.

Even though Madrid matched numbers in this midfield battle, Alonso, Modric and Khedira played very narrow in attack. This led to single tackle being enough to end Madrid’s possession and start a counter. This was seen on an occasion at 0-0 where Gundogan was able to dispossess Modric while Alonso and Khedira were caught up high up next to Modric; a quick counter resulted in chance for Lewandowski to tap-in.

Gotze stretches Alonso, Reus’ direct runs cause havoc

While the duo of Bender and Gundogan laid foundations, the game was heavily affected by Gotze’s off the ball movement. He did not have the sole responsibility of pressing Alonso when Real were on the ball, as Lewandowski aided him here. But while on the ball, rather than running at Alonso, Gotze preferred to invite Reus central and drift out wide instead.

Reus, who usually plays on the right, switched to the left, but this did not stop him from linking up with Gotze and Lewandowski through the centre. And as it stood, Reus had many more dribbles and direct runs at Raphael Varane than either of the other 2. Reus’s central drifting was mainly due to Gotze’s tendency to move wider in order to avoid Alonso’s constant covering. Such was the case when the 20-year-old German provided the brilliant cross for Lewandowski’s first goal.

Borussia Dortmund players celebrate their teams fourth goal during the UEFA Champions League semifinal first leg against Real Madrid at Signal Iduna Park on April 24, 2013 in Dortmund, Germany. (Getty Images)

Ronaldo marked by Polish duo, neither Ozil nor him track back

Madrid have always entrusted attacks on their wingers and against a Dortmund side who tends to play through the centre, Ronaldo and co. would have had a gala time stretching out the midfield. But due to Gotze-Lewandowski’s constant pressing on Alonso, and the constant presence of the Polish duo Piszczek-Kuba on Ronaldo, the game seemed to drift away from the Madrid. Ozil on the other flank was having a torrid time in attack as the cover of Schmelzer reduced his activity.

The only time when Ronaldo was dangerous was when he drifted central and played just off Hummels. The German defender was easily pulled off his line under such circumstances, as he had done against Balotelli and Italy in the Euros. One such mishap occurred on a Madrid counter as Hummels let Higuain through and Ronaldo was there to tap it in.

Mourinho experiments with an advanced No.10; the battle of substitutes

Madrid were well positioned at the break; and as Klopp mentioned post match, he had to motivate his team back to their high tempo self that had started the game. Mourinho identified the lack of creativity due to Ozil’s restriction to the wings, and so Ozil was brought into the No.10 role with Modric moving to the right.

This move might have worked if Ozil would have come deep infront of Bender-Gundogan and picked out the inward runs by Ronaldo and Higuain. But Ozil played higher up the pitch as he and Higuain stuck onto Dortmund’s defence. This disturbed the somewhat balanced midfield battle as Gundogan no longer had to worry about Modric’s presence, while Bender was able to site safely in front of Ozil and collect easy balls from the defence.

Even Madrid’s duo of Khedira and Alonso were not so enterprising after the break, as they both sat much deeper to avoid Reus and Gotze terrorizing Alonso alone. Dortmund did not play many aerial balls to Lewandowski, even though this would been his natural strength with Kuba on the wings. Both of his goals from open play in the 2nd half came via some quick footwork from the Pole, and some horrendous defending by Pepe. If the word being spread by Heynckes’s agent regarding Bayern having wrapped up Lewandowski deal is true, then there is going to be no team able to stop Pep next season.

Jurgen Klopp celebrates during the UEFA Champions League semifinal first leg against Real Madrid at Signal Iduna Park on April 24, 2013 in Dortmund, Germany. (Getty Images)

Mourinho made the first bunch of changes, as he brought on Di Maria for the fading Modric and surprisingly shifted Ozil to the right with Di Maria at No.10. Unlike Ozil, Di Maria now took to running at Bender rather than being goal side.

Klopp was quick to make a recovery as he brought on Kehl for Kuba and moved into a flat midfield trio. Now Di Maria’s pace seemed plugged and this saw Mourinho make another change of removing Alonso for Kaka. This saw Di Maria now shifting to wide-right and Kaka at No. 10. Ozil went into a deeper role with Khedira in front of the back 4.

The game was originally analyzed as a battle between the attacking trios of both the teams and it turned out exactly that; except for the fact that no one counted on Gundogan coming to the party. Ronaldo, if not for his goal and winning a few fouls, was a big flop as again his negligence of back-tracking with Kuba or Piszczek caused Coentrao to stay put in defence.

Klopp has more or less grabbed the a spot for the Wembely final, as no one sees Madrid keeping a clean-sheet in the second leg, even if they score 3 goals. A final spot is not an over-achievement for this Dortmund team as the fluidity and tempo in their midfield and attack is quite unique in world football at the moment.