That’s that then, a crazy finish to a strange sort of a game, which featured an impressive beginning and impressive end from Madrid, but a fairly mediocre middle when Dortmund looked as if they would cruise through to a final.
It would have been harsh on Dortmund had Real nicked a late goal but a failure to take chances was the story of Real Madrid’s night, particularly through the likes of Higuain and Ozil early on and Ronaldo, who was poor by his high standards, at the end.
Dortmund had their chances too, but their defence, particularly the central defensive partnership of Hummels and Subotic, were outstanding and they were certainly the better side over two legs and deserved to go through.
Another Champions League knockout game with plenty of drama that ended with a predictable enough outcome, even if it wasn’t quite achieved in the manner we expected. Dortmund through to the final, probably against their great domestic rivals Bayern, and that will be a helluva game next month.
Barcelona will try and pull off an even bigger miracle than Madrid tried to achieve tonight to prevent that from happening, however, and we’ll be going minute by minute on that one as well tomorrow evening so be sure to join us.
That’s it for this evening, thanks for tuning in.
Not that it matters now, but here is Ramos’ quite impressive finish that had Dortmund fans biting their nails for the last few minutes… (via @SpheraChannel)
FULL-TIME
Ramos blown up for offside and that, as they say, is that
Two minutes of the five added on still remaining…
Ramos heads just wide
Corner Real Madrid, Diego Lopez goes up
B?aszczykowski stretchered off for Dortmund and Santana, the hero of the quarter-final on in his stead. That delay means there will be quite a bit of injury time, but we still don’t know much yet even though there are two minutes gone already.
Great finish by Ramos with his left foot from ten yards out in a crowded penalty area after Benzema had picked him out from the byline. Still time for Real to pull this off. Sweaty last few minutes await for Dortmund.
Oh my God, it couldn’t happen, could it?
GOAL REAL MADRID RAMOS
Brilliant from Weidenfeller again, who tips the ball over the bar after Benzema’s deflected effort was heading into the net
Benzema’s goal… (via @SpheraChannel)
Brilliant goalkeeping by the aforementioned Weidenfeller, who throws himself at a free-kick and gets there just before Sergio Ramos to divert the ball to safety. Spirited finish by the hosts.
Lovely ball across the face of the goal by Ozil and a simple finish into the roof of the net by Benzema, who, along with a few of his teammates, wrestles the ball off Weidenfeller, who had been clinging onto it for dear life to try and waste time. Too little, too late? Dortmund did score two in stoppage time in the quarter-finals…
GOAL REAL MADRID BENZEMA
Looked like a handball by Hummels at the edge of the box but Howard Webb not interested. Desperate appeal more than anything else. At the other end, Sergio Ramos finally booked, which will rule him out of a final Real Madrid are not going to be playing in.
Lewandowski with yet another chance for Dortmund, but after a scramble in the box, it eventually ends up in a free-out for Real Madrid. Would be no surprise if they nick one before the finish.
On ITV, Clive Tyldesley, like most optimistic football fans, still thinks that Madrid have a chance. He’s not saying this but we know he’s thinking ‘if they can get one by the 75th minute… and then another before the 85th’ when in reality it’s a lot more like this…
Another decent chance for Ronaldo from an Ozil cross from the right-wing but it flies just over his head and is too long for Di Maria to reach at the back stick.
Ronaldo with a sight of goal for Real but he blazes it over from the edge of the box with the top of his toe. Good chance that.
Sami Khedira on for Xabi Alonso for the last 20 minutes
Interesting observation from The Guardian’s Raphael Honigstein about Real Madrid. They’ve certainly fizzled out after the first half an hour…
That Lopez save… (via @SpheraChannel)
An incredible save from Diego Lopez from Gundogan, who looked all set to tap Marco Reus’ cross into the net from eight yards. Gundogan could probably have placed it better but Lopez did brilliantly to palm it away. Will that help spark Real into life?
WHAT A SAVE.
Lewandowski on the receiving end of more treatment from a combination of Ramos and Alonso, who for all their talents, are certainly no angels.
Our kingdom for a Real Madrid goal in the next five minutes to add just a little bit of life to the closing stages.
Dortmund in no hurry to implement their usual press high up the pitch at this stage, they’re content with their lot and you couldn’t really blame them.
Two changes for Real Madrid, Kaka and Benzema for Coentrao and Higuain. Asking a lot for them to try and salvage something now.
Ronaldo just not on it tonight and appears, if his gestures are anything to go by, to be blaming all of his errors on his team-mates. He did miss the game against Atletico at the weekend with a thigh injury so that could have something to do with it. Certainly doesn’t look himself.
How close was that? Lewandowski with another chance for Dortmund and he absolutely blasts it off the underside of the crossbar, with the ball coming down narrowly on the wrong side of the line as far as he’s concerned. Real looking real vulnerable right now.
Good chance for Lewandowski to put the game firmly to bed but he wastes it. At the other end, meanwhile, his team-mate Mats Hummels is having a stormer.
Howard Webb is tonight’s ref, of course, and is actually doing a pretty good job so far, prompting this fairly predictable but still pretty funny tweet from the lads at Paddy Power
Back underway in Madrid…
Much of the half-time discussion on Twitter seems to revolve around the tussle between Ramos and Lewandowski, who has been bearing the brunt of the Spaniard’s physicality in the first half.
Before the game, Jose Mourinho was critical of the fact that Lewandowski wasn’t even fouled in the run-up to any of his four goals in the first leg and his players have certainly got the message.
Well, after a fast and furious first 25 minutes or so, the last 20 have been a letdown as far as the neutral is concerned, simply because Dortmund have sucked all the life out of their hosts and are cruising at the moment. It’s a perfectly acceptable and logical tactic for them to apply in their position, but the lack of a Real Madrid goal ruins any hint of excitement for the rest of us.
Madrid’s chances to make a game of this all came in the first 20 minutes and Mesut Ozil really should have put them at least a goal ahead, but they have looked limp since and Cristiano Ronaldo is simply not in it. More of the same in the second will suit Dortmund and it’s hard not to see the game developing along those lines. Back with the second half soon.
HALF-TIME
… which goes about 35 yards over the bar. Sums up his first half to be honest
Two-minutes of additional time at the end of the first half and Ronaldo has a free-kick from 35 yards out…
Real are far, far too narrow at the moment. Trying to break through the middle of the Dortmund defence, where they have ample defence, is simply not working. The longer this game goes on, the more comfortable Dortmund appear and as it stands, they are going to go through with the minimum of fuss.
Bit of a dangerous tactic from Dortmund, but they have caught Real Madrid players offside at least five times in the last ten minutes. Only adding to the frustration of an already frustrated home crowd.
Gonzalo Higuain definitely Real’s greatest threat so far. Does really well to rescue a lost cause and hangs up a decent ball for Ronaldo but Weidenfeller gets there first. Madrid need more from their biggest player
Dortmund have really stifled the life out of Madrid at this stage. The crowd were frenzied earlier on but are now reduced to whistling when Dortmund are in possession. Bender and Gundogan really getting stuck in in midfield.
In case you missed it, here’s the clip of Mesut Ozil’s one on one miss from earlier. A man of his talents really should have done better… (via @SpheraChannel)
Just realised that I have barely had reason to mention Cristiano Ronaldo’s name yet. The star man has been very quiet so far, although to be fair, the same could be said for the likes of Reus and Lewandowski on the other side.
Brilliant run down the left wing by Ozil and a lovely pull-back to Angel di Maria, whose shot from the edge of the box hits Gonzalo Higuain of all people and rebounds to safety. Lovely play by Ozil though, obviously keen to make up for that bad miss earlier on.
The breathtaking pace with which Real started the game has tapered off a bit and Dortmund coming into the game more and more. They’ll be delighted not to have conceded in the opening 25 minutes.
Dortmund showing there how dangerous they can be on the break. A lovely passing move releases Piszczek down the right but he is stopped by a brilliant challenge inside the area by Sergio Ramos. Vital interception that.
This, from the excellent @footballcliches accurately sums up the game so far…
https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%22could%20have%22%203%20OR%204%20already&src=typd
Early change for Dortmund and it’s a big one as Mario Gotze goes off with a hamstring injury and is replaced by Kevin Grosskreutz.
Mesut Ozil with a gilt-edged chance for Madrid that he fires wide at the near post after a beautiful through ball from Higuain. Poor finish from Ozil, who could have squared it to Ronaldo if he looked to his left. Big chance gone abegging.
Real have been all over Dortmund so far, but Robert Lewandowski nearly scored the first of the night at the other end. In the end, his volley was poorly struck and almost immediately down the other end, Ronaldo has a similar chance saved by Weidenfeller.
Yet another chance for Higuain, who has got on an awful lot of all so far. In the end he heads Mesut Ozil’s free-kick wide of the target but it didn’t matter anyway because the flag was up.
Ronaldo with a snapshot from just inside the area that flies high, wide and (not like the man himself… swoon) anything but handsome, but Dortmund can’t get out of their own half at the moment.
Another corner for Real Madrid, their third in less than seven minutes. Looking very lively so far.
Gonzalo Higuain with a huge chance to get Real off to the best possible start after being put through by Mesut Ozil, but the ball got stuck under his feet and his effort was weak and diverted wide by Weidenfeller. Early warning for Dortmund.
Real Madrid fans setting the scene before kick off (Via @AndyMitten)
And we’re underway
Seconds until kick-off in Madrid, here we go
Hadn’t realised that railings separate the two sides in the tunnel in the Bernabeu as the players come out on the pitch. Possibly installed not long after the infamous Keane/Vieira tunnel bust-up back in the day. Rememeber that?
According to the Uefa match centre, the Bernabeu stadium announcer is making all the right moves, playing AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ while the Real players came out for their warm-up and telling the crowd that the home side were ‘about to create history’.
There certainly seems to be a good buzz but can the Special One’s side capitalise on it?
Adrian Chiles: Long monologue followed by question to Roy Keane… Can Madrid do it?
Roy Keane: No.
Classic
Of course, while there is a possibilty that Real can pull this off, they have to meddle their attacking instincts with the need to stay tight at the back because the concession of one goal to such a talented Dortmund side will mean that this tie is as good as over.
This tactic, advocated by our own Sports Editor Sean Nolan, would be a suitable one for Real to try and pull off…
Lots of tweets about the atmosphere at the Bernabeu, where the fans really seem to be up for it. This, from the admittedly often over-enthusiastic Henry Winter, seems to capture the mood…
Much as we’d love to be doing this blog from the Bernabeu itself, we have to be content with following it on a 40-year old set complete with rabbit-ear aerial big screen TV from JOE Towers.
One of the JOE team, head honcho Niall McGarry, was lucky enough to make the trip to Madrid with thanks to Heineken along with Jamie Carroll, the creator of the fantastic vine that won our Champions League competition last week.
Niall tweeted the picture below from the Bernabeu earlier on, no doubt while telling all present that he would have been there in a playing capacity himself had the business not got in the way. Enjoy the game lads!
The aggregate scoreline might suggest that tonight will simply be a procession for Dortmund into the final, but I’ve a feelin’ in me bones that Real are going to give it an almighty shot rather than meekly accepting their exit from the competition.
Their pride can’t help but be stung by the manner of last week’s defeat, while all the talk about of a power shift from Spain to Germany would have hurt too. An early goal from the hosts and this game will become very, very interesting.
Nigh on impossible it may be, but they certainly have the players to pull it off.
The teams for ye…
Jose Mourinho has seen fit to omit Sami Khedira from the first XI after last week, with Luka Modric dropping back into a defensive midfield role and Angel di Maria starting having been held in reserve after the birth of his daughter last week.
Michael Essien starts at right back and we dare say both Reus and Gotze will fancy a run at him at various stages but overall it’s an attacking looking Madrid line-up while Dortmund have, unsurprisingly, named the same team as last week.
Real Madrid: Diego Lopez; Essien, Varane, Sergio Ramos, Coentrao; Xabi Alonso, Modric; Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo; Higuain
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Bender, Gundogan; B?aszczykowski, Gotze, Reus; Lewandowski.
Evening folks and welcome to our minute-by-minute coverage of the Champions League semi-final second leg meeting between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at the Bernabeu.
With three goals to make up against a classy Dortmund outfit, the odds are firmly stacked against Los Blancos, but they’ve certainly got the players to pull off what would be one of the most memorable results in the history of the competition.
Just under 45 minutes to go until kick-off, we’ll be back with team news shortly.
