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So, German football then? If somebody told you on Tuesday afternoon that the German teams would win both games by a whopping 8-1 on aggregate, you’d have sent them on their way to cloud cuckoo land.
What happened last night was crazy and tonight was right up there alongside after a brilliant performance from Borussia Dortmund and a brilliant performance from Robert Lewandowski, who with four goals in a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, has embellished a price tag that was already quite high as it was.
Real, there is no other word for it, looked shellshocked as they were torn apart by their German opponents and the big issue beforehand, how Mario Gotze would cope after news of his move to Bayern becamse public, ended up not being an issue in the end.
You can’t absolutely rule out a Real comeback but we’re talking a miracle of loaves and fishes proportions given Dortmund’s superiority tonight and the fact that the second leg is only six days away. Can Real recover mentally between now and then?
For now, we should bask in the brilliance of Dortmund and gather ourselves again before, hopefully, more of the same from both ties next week.
That’s all from us for this evening. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll chat to you again next week.
FULL-TIME
Super chance for Raphael Varane to nick one at the death but his left-footed half-volley flies wide of the post. That is pretty much that for Real, who have a mountain to climb in the second leg.
Ronaldo with half a chance but he had to stretch and Weidenfeller was nearly at his feet when he hit and was able to make the save. ‘Keeper has stayed down after it but we imagine he’s quite alright. Any opportunity to eat up the last remaining seconds and all that.
Rarely heard George Hamilton sop effusive about a football team as he has been about Dortmund tonight, you can hear how happy he is to watch them in his voice. Not so much Eamon Dunphy, who didn’t think they were up to it at half-time. Wonder what he’ll have to say afterwards…
Good chance that Lewandowski will be following Gotze to Bayern or possibly even heading to Man United in the summer. Few quid added to his price tag after tonight, but some suggestions on Twitter that he was about to sign for Blackburn from Lech Poznan for £5 million in 2010, only the ash cloud prevented him from getting to England.
God bless that ash cloud.
For all of Dortmund’s dominance, if Real can nick one before the end (and not concede any more of course) this game is still very much alive. Also, if you’re Malaga, Juventus, Arsenal, Shakhtar Donestk or any of the other teams swept aside by both German powerhouses in the competition so far, you’re not feeling so bad about yourself right now.
The words ‘power’ ‘shift’ ‘Spain’ and ‘Germany’ might just feature in a few of the morning papers tomorrow methinks.
They weren’t given what would have been a soft penalty in the first half and now they’ve been given a soft penalty in the second. Alonso’s challenge on Reus was clumsy more than anything but he probably shouldn’t have made it considering where he was.
Benzema and Di Maria on for Real, Higuain and Modric off as Real set about trying to salvage something before the tie is completely out of sight.
The form he’s in, Lewandowski was never going to miss that. Straight down the middle, roof of the net, Lopez dived early but if he had stayed where he was the power might have carried him into the net with the ball. What a scoreline, is this really happening again?
GOAL BORUSSIA DORTMUND LEWANDOWSKI
Penalty Borussia Dortmund
After Lewandowski’s double, Real would have been 4-1 down were it not for a truly brilliant save by Diego Lopez from Gundogan. Real on the ropes and then…
And his third (also via 101 Great Goals)
Lewandowski’s second… (via 101 Great Goals)
Lewandowski 2 by Counterpoint1
My God! That is sheer class from Robert Lewandowski and what a way to complete his hat-tric. Schmelzer’s cross from the left eventually arrived at the feet of the Pole, who brilliantly dragged it into a shooting position and then fired it into the roof of the net. Class.
GOAL BORUSSIA DORTMUND LEWANDOWSKI
It took an absolute age for a replay of that goal to be shown by the way. Hardly down to the fact that German television thought it was actually offside, no?
Well everyone seemed to think he was offside, including it seems, Lewandowski himself, but replays showed that Lewandowski was onside when collecting Marco Reus’s attempted shot and poking it past Lopez for Dortmund’s second. He even seemed to apologise to Pepe afterwards but it matters little now as Dortmund are in the lead.
GOAL BORUSSIA DORTMUND LEWANDOWSKI
Diego Lopez nearly delivered the pass of the season to Mesut Ozil but having broke clear of the Dortmund defence, Ozil couldn’t bring the ball under control and Lopez was denied a sensational assist. Pity…
All ready to go for the second half…
Another half-time shout out for our competition to win an ALL EXPENSES PAID trip for two to Madrid to take in the second leg next week. Competition closes on Friday so it’s time to get your ass in gear. Did we mention ALL EXPENSES PAID?
Ronaldo’s equaliser. Mats Hummels fans look away now… (via 101 Great Goals)
HALF-TIME
Ronaldo’s goal, by the way, was his 50th in the Champions League. Another one to add to his collection of quite ridiculous stats.
Going back to the Reus fall, it probably wasn’t a penalty. There was contact between Reus and Varane but it was more of a coming together than a foul by the Real centre back, who had just picked himself up off the ground after a slip.
Well that came out of nowhere. While the TV cameras were still showing replays of a Reus fall in the Madrid penalty area at the other end, Gonzalo Higuain capitalises on a bad mistake from Mats Hummels and squares it to Ronaldo, who taps it into an empty net from six yards. Huge goal in this tie and a big blow for Dortmund, who have been by far the better team so far.
GOAL REAL MADRID CRISTIANO RONALDO
Fantastic move by Real down the left ultimately comes to nothing after Coentrao overhits his cross but the passing between the Portuguese left back, Mesut Ozil and Ronaldo was brilliant to watch.
Brilliant run by B?aszczykowski – typed that without using copy and paste… honest – down the right hand side but after going fully 40 yards and into the box his effort on goal is blocked by Gonzalo Higuain of all people. Obviously not seeing enough action down the other end.
Game has just slowed down a bit after a frantic opening 20 minutes. Slower pace probably suits Real if truth be told, the speed of Dortmund’s passing and movement when in possession is frightening.
Good spell this for Real. Modric creates an opening on the right hand side with a deliciously struck outside of the boot ball to Khedira. Over the other side, a foul on Ronaldo leads to a set-piece in a good position but Alonso’s dangerous delivery is headed clear. Better from the visitors.
Ronaldo’s first shot in anger is a decently hit free-kick from about 30 yards which is punched to safety by Weidenfeller. Comfortable enough save to be honest.
The energy of the Dortmund players is so impressive so far. No Madrid player, particularly Cristiano Ronaldo, getting a minute’s peace while in possession. Will be interesting to see if they can keep up that frenetic pace.
Opinions on Gotze divided amongst Dortmund fans it seems…
‘Gotze out’
‘Thank you Mario’
If you didn’t catch it, here’s Lewandowski’s goal (via Daily Motion/Samu035)
They’ve looked very dangerous in the opening few minutes and Dortmund have got their reward through the in-form Robert Lewandowski, who stabbed it home on the volley at the far post after a peach of a cross from the left wing by who else but Mario Gotze. Game on.
GOAL DORTMUND LEWANDOWSKI
Marco Reus carves through the Real Madrid like a knife through butter and sees his effort tipped away by Lopez in the Madrid goal, just far enough away from Robert Lewandowski to prevent him from tapping in the rebound. Brilliant play by the man known as ‘Rolls Reus’ by the Dortmund fans.
Dortmund’s high pressing game very evident in the early stages. No signs that they’re afraid of playing a high line and leaving themselves vulnerable to the counter attack so far at least.
And we’re underway…
Both teams are out and we’re nearly ready to go…
Again, thanks to Paddy Power for this snap of Gary Neville and Jose Mourinho before the game.
“See you on Monday Night Football next season.”
Speaking of the Dortmund fans, they’ve been singing You’ll Never Walk Alone prior to kick-off. Some on Twitter suggesting it is in solidarity with Luis Suarez after his 10-game ban, but more likely that is to do with the Hillsbrough Justice campaign and in tribute to the late Anne Williams. Very impressive stuff.
Looking forward to seeing what the Dortmund fans have in store for us tonight, although it will do well to top this from the Malaga game…
In case you didn’t know already, or if you did and haven’t been bothered to get up off your arse yet, with thanks to Heineken we have an absolutely brilliant prize of an all-expenses paid trip to Madrid to catch the second leg of this tie in six days time.
For more details on how to enter, click here, but it will take you five minutes and the prize couldn’t be better, so what are you waiting for?
Like we said, Mario Gotze might be in for a hot reception from his own fans tonight, but let’s hope this sort of carry-on doesn’t extend to the stands at the Westfalenstadion tonight…
Interesting stat from Paddy Power about Real’s record away from home against German teams in the Champions League. No time like the present to get the finger out…
Here are the two teams for tonight if you haven’t yet seen them. Angel di Maria doesn’t start for Madrid after the birth of his daughter yesterday, although he is on the bench, but in fairness, Luka Modric isn’t a bad replacement.
Dortmund’s XI is along predicted lines and although Gotze was always likely to start, it will be interesting to see what reception he gets from the fans after his imminent move to Bayern Munich became public knowledge earlier this week.
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Bender, Gundogan; Gotze, Reus, B?aszczykowski; Lewandowski
Real Madrid: Lopez; Ramos, Pepe, Varane, Coentrao; Khedira, Xabi Alonso; Modric, Özil, Ronaldo; Higuain
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Good evening folks and welcome to our coverage of tonight’s Champions League semi-final first leg clash between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid. It will want to be hell of a game to match what happened in Munich last night, but given the quality of players at the disposal of both sides, there’s every chance it will do just that.
Just under 45 minutes to kick-off in Dortmund, we’ll be back with team news and all the build-up shortly.
