Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid

As if the romanticism and simmering brightness of an evening sunset couldn’t delight and inspire you more, the 65000 strong Dortmund faithful continued to light up the night long after the sun had gone down over the Signal Iduna stadium. It was a sweet embrace in a corner of Northern Germany, a wave of emotion from each stand, a night to behold, a statement to the rest of Europe.

The flags waved, the deep German voices bellowed out their heroes and one perplexed Portuguese manager looked on at Robert Lewandoski as if he’d just taken his homework and tore it up like rampaging pitbull. This was a night when the classical number 9 striker came out to play, when the definition of ‘that boy can turn on a 5 pence piece’ was epitomised in one....two....goal.

Whatever it is that might happen to this incredible Dortmund side in the near future was left somewhere far from the archaic stadium that was beamed around the world last night. They ripped into this Real Madrid team full of world class talent and individual brilliance right from the off, controlling the tempo, pushing high up the pitch and finding channels which at times sent the Madrid defence into a blubbering mess.

Dortmund’s first chance, a mazy run through the middle by the outstanding Marco Reus after the first few minutes, should have sounded the alarm bells for Mourinho’s men. Instead it set the tone for the night and a couple of minutes later Dortmund’s early pressure paid dividend. Lewandoski lost Pepe in the box as the departing Mario Gotze whipped in a delightful ball from the left and all the Polish international had left to do was poke it home with his outstretched right boot.

Madrid’s only real attack of the night came from a Mats Hummel’s mistake. He was too casual in attempting to knock the ball back to Dortmund keeper, Roman Weidenfeller. This came at a critical time in the game as half time approached. After they missed out on a penalty claim a few moments before Gonzalo Higuain squared to Ronaldo to slot home, they could have gone into the changing room at half time with heads bowed and a negative attitude for the remaining 45 minutes. In fact they did the opposite, with Hummel’s in particular looking fired up for the second half as they entered the field of play.

Dortmund seemed to use their setback as a mere stepping stone to greater things. And my did they create great things in what turned into a rout by the time the referee blew the final whistle. Ilkay Gundogan will no doubt be missing from all the big headlines but he churned out an incredibly patient and powerful midfield performance, setting off Dortmund’s forward play as well as cutting off the balls up to Mesut Ozil and Ronaldo, and along with the returning Sven Bender, stopped any of the attacks Madrid attempted.

The German side had the lead back 5 minutes after the restart with Sami Khedira lazily keeping Lewandoski on side, for the striker to turn and finish in one slick movement. If you thought that was slick then his third was perfection. An immaculate combination of touch, turn and close control gave Pepe a dizzy spell, matched by a clinical finish into the roof of the net to send the famous Subtribune behind Madrid keeper Diego Lopez’s goal into utter pandemonium.

Madrid looked stunned, and even more mystified when the magnificent Gundogan ran through 4 or 5 Madrid players only for his shot to be expertly save by Lopez. They need not have worried as to whether Dortmund would score a fourth, when in the 66th minute Xabi Alonso bundled into the back Reus. Alonso had been poor all night and was rarely given a chance to pass the ball the way he has done so efficiently for both Liverpool and Madrid. A clumsy takedown of an opposition player gave evidence to Alonso’s frustration and Lewandowski happily made the Spaniard rue his mistake with a thunderous strike into the roof of a net now worn down thanks to the 24 year olds right foot. In all honesty he could have tapped that ball at snail’s pace for it only to go the same speed as a rocket thanks to the yellow sea of fans pulling it towards their goal. 4-1 and Dortmund were in dreamland.

They saw out the game professionally and Weidenfeller was briefly reminded of what he faces next week at the Bernabeu when scrambling to block Ronaldo’s shot two minutes before time. Madrid are certainly capable of scoring three but the question is can they shut out this incredible attacking line Dortmund possess. A small miracle requires both Madrid and Barcelona to progress to Wembley on May 25th as the F.A celebrate their 150th Anniversary. Football (or should I say Fussball) is most certainly coming home in celebration of this, and it’s more than likely Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich will be at centre stage for it.