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Ilkay Gundogan of Borussia Dortmund is challenged by Kaka of Real Madrid during the UEFA Champions League Semi Final Second Leg match between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on April 30, 2013 in Madrid, Spain.
The well anticipated match ended up in Borussia Dortmund‘s favour while the Blancos failed to chalk out anything productive even after scoring two goals and keeping a clean sheet. Borussia are on their way to Wembley now, waiting for their German counterparts, Bayern Munich, to join them.
The match had the perfect reception and even though a lot was expected from Real Madrid, things were still hazy. The biggest concern for Real Madrid was their fragile defensive line and their out-of-form strikers Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain. Jurgen Klopp was confident about his side as they were looking to go through to the finals with the hope of killing it in the early minutes, like they did in the last match.
Real Madrid started with a predictable and same line up as they did in the last Champions League fixture, only bringing in Angel Di Maria and Michael Essien instead of Sami Khedira and Pepe respectively. Borussia Dortmund had the same team sheet as they did last week. Luka Modric started in central midfield alongside Xabi Alonso, which was debatable at the start but turned out to be a great decision by the manager. The two teams played with the 4-2-3-1 formation.
The match started with Real Madrid breaking into an attack every two minutes. They held the ball exceptionally well and Dortmund had to break into a sweat just to get a touch on the ball. What let the whites down was their finishing, as they squandered the first three crucial chances of the game. The team had their first clear-cut chance when Higuian attempted a shot from a Luka Modric pass, but only falling to Borussia’ Weiddenfeller who stood tall in front of the goal. Cristiano Ronaldo joined in the party but only to blast his first chance wide; a first of his many misses. Ronaldo lacked his usual sharpness and swagger throughout the match.
Madrid had the upper hand and things were still looking good, especially after Mario Götze hobbled off with a reported hamstring trouble; Kevin Grosskreutz was brought on.
Ozil wasted Madrid’s best chance inside the first quarter of the game, and it would have been an easy tap-in for Ronaldo, who was left unmarked on the left, had Ozil passed him the ball. Yet, the match was in it’s early minutes and Real Madrid had already created sufficient opportunities to believe that a comeback wasn’t out of their reach. But instead, the adrenaline started to cool off. Even though the Dortmund players were looking nervous in the first twenty minutes, they started to settle in and get a hold of the match.
The visitors were playing smartly. They tried their best to keep their opponents at bay and to protect the massive 3-0 lead they had. Madrid were playing with increasing urgency and things started to get ugly, especially with Lewandowski, who was constantly bullied by Sergio Ramos and Fabio Coentrao. Howard Webb tried his best to keep the number of cards shown at a minimal, letting the game flow without any interruption, but the drama on the pitch was way too much.
The second half started without any change of names on the team sheet. With the lack of creativity in the middle, Mourinho needed a change and so came in Karim Benzema and Kaka for Coentrao and Higuain. B?aszczykowski and Marcos Reus combined yet again to set up a clear cut chance for Gundogan and it took a stunning López stop from point-blank range to keep Madrid still in the contest.
Madrid were still with a three goal-deficit and the match was half an hour away from it’s climax. The clock was ticking and the Madrid players started to take their chances. They were so committed to their attack, that it almost left them vulnerable to yet another sucker punch from Dortmund. Modric was having the best game of his Madrid career as he was constantly running with the ball towards Dortmund’s half. With almost eight minutes remaining, Madrid pulled one back through Karim Benzema after a brilliant round-up play from Ozil and Kaka.
As a Real Madrid supporter, it was frustrating and reassuring at the same time for me. Was it just false hope, or were we actually going to comeback? The Bernabeu crowd was roaring and probably for the second time in the match, it looked like Madrid could still make it to the final. The “sí se puede” (“Yes we can” in English) chants echoing around the Bernabeu grew louder. After a string of passes and blocked shots, Karim Benzema regained the ball near the right-hand side of the post, and he squared it to Ramos, who smashed the ball into the roof of the net. It was a goal and Real only needed one more. They had an extra five minutes of stoppage time, but that fell too short for Real Madrid as Howard Webb brought the game to a close.
The tie was over and Dortmund were through on aggregate.
Man of the match Mats Hummels
Goals scored by Karim Benzema 83′, Sergio Ramos 88′
Attendance 76,000.
“Today we were a team with character and desire, we almost did it. In the first match we were very, very bad and we have been punished for that, not for tonight.”
— Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid Manager
“Obviously Real are a team capable of playing quality football. They had a lot to make up for after the first leg, but in the end we deserved to go through on aggregate. We deserve to be in the final.”
— Jürgen Klopp, Dortmund coach.
“I walked out at 2-0. I went to the toilet, locked myself in and covered my ears. For the first time in my life I had to stop watching, my heart couldn’t take it.’’
— Hans-Joachim Watzke, Dortmund Cheif Executive.
