Borussia Dortmund hold off Real Madrid, reach Champions League final

Real Madrid needed one of their early chances to go in. Without it, Borussia Dortmund were able to stop most of Tuesday’s drama before it started, though in seeing out a 4-3 aggregate win over the Spanish giants, BVB allowed two late goals to bring the match into doubt. Thanks to a 2-0 win on Tuesday, the final, 180-minute scoreline flattered Real Madrid, though for all of the moments Dortmund had shown their superiority, they were still left one goal from elimination when the final whistle blew.

After series of early second half chances for BVB extinguished any momentum remaining following Real’s dominant opening push, late goals from Karim Benzema (82′) and Sergio Ramos (88′) put the hosts within one strike of May 25th’s final. But unable to stress Roman Weidenfeller for the eight minutes between Ramos’s tally and Howard Webb’s final whistle, los Blancos failed to accomplish the daunting tast Dortmund assigned them last week: Overcome a 4-1 to revitalize hope of a 10th European title. And in that vein, Borussia Dortmund were able to avoid a reverse of last round’s miracle against Málaga.

It’s the first time in 16 years Borussia Dortmund will play for the European Cup, their only other final appearance coming in 1996-97. That year, BVB got two goals from Karl-Heinz Reidle to overpower Juventus 3-1 at Munich’s Olympiastadion, claiming one of the two European trophies that sit on the club’s mantle.

If Dortmund’s to add to that haul, there’ll likely be another link to Munich. Bundesliga champions Bayern, up 4-0 on Barcelona, are expected to move past their Catalan opposition tomorrow at Camp Nous and make May’s final an all-German affair.

Before their late push, El Real’s biggest threats came early, with two José Mourinho changes creating an advantage down Real Madrid’s right. Luka Modric, in for Sami Khedira in a holding role, caused problems by overloading that flank in the attacking phase, while Michael Essien, assuming Alvaro Arbeloa’s normal spot at right back, flexed Dortmund’s defense with his early connections to Mesut Ozil.

In the fourth minute, those changes paid off with a chance for Gonzalo Higuaín that’d been worked through Modric then Ozil. Alone in front of goal, the Real striker turned and struck off Roman Weidenfeller as the Dortmund keeper charged to close the Argentine’s angles.

In the 16th minute, Weidenfeller made another strong read on Ozil, racing to the edge of the box to force the Madrid creator to pull his shot wide. Three minutes earlier, the BVB keeper had stoned Cristiano Ronaldo from point blank range, his stellar opening act keeping Real Madrid from converting chances into much needed momentum.

By the middle of the half, Dortmund had come into the match enough to start countering Madrid’s forays. Eventually, BVB saw of the ball to start building play, their careful attacks doing more to see out the half than threaten Diego López.

The second half initially got worse for Real Madrid. Robert Lewandowski missed an easy chance created for him by Marco Reus and Kevin Grosskreutz (who came on early for an injured Mario Götze). One minute later (50′), Lewandowski put shot off the crossbar, while in the 63rd minute, Lopez had to lay out to prevent Ilkay Gundogan from putting away a ball rolled across goal by Reus. In less than 20 minutes after halftime, BVB seemed to quell the sliver of ambition Real held at kick off.

In the 82nd minute, Real finally started climbing into the match. Kaká, whose mid-half insertion saw the home side go to three at the back, sent a ball wide right from the edge of the area to Ozil, whose pass back in was one-timed by Benzema past Weidenfeller. Six minutes later, a set piece over the area was kept in play by Benzema, whose ball back for Ramos was went into the top of Weidenfeller’s net

If Real had moved closer before the tie’s 172nd minute, the late surge would have been a silver lining. Instead, history will see it as irrelevance. Had Higuaín or Özil converted early chances, the match would have taken on a completely different dynamic. Yet on the list of what ifs accumulated over 180 minutes, those may have been the thinnest.

Real Madrid were never in this tie until it was all but settled, and although the first 20 and final 10 minutes at the Bernabéu showed they were capable of more, the final scored showed that even when their backs were against the wall, the Merengues were again no match for Borussia Dortmund.