Real Madrid raise hopes but ultimately fall short against Dortmund

Yesterday night explained why the UEFA Champions League is one of the world’s most watched sporting events. In the 76th minute of the game, the score line at the Santiago Bernabeu read Real Madrid nil, Borussia Dortmund nil. Having created a plethora of chances in the first half, but seeing most of them miss the target by a considerable margin or saved by the excellent Roman Weidenfeller, I decided to call it a night and turn off the game, since given the way things were going, it seemed rather obvious that the game would stay deadlocked. As I ploughed through my customary bowl of late-night grapes, I decided to watch the game until I at least finished the bowl of natural goodness. You’ll finish the bowl in five minutes, I reasoned with myself. I didn’t. [caption id=“attachment_744815” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid were unable to get past Borussia Dortmund. Getty[/caption] About halfway through the bowl, Karim Benzema put through the back of Weidenfeller’s net, opening the score in the Spanish capital, giving his side the lead on the night and more importantly, belief. Right from the time Howard Webb blew his whistle for the first time last night, it was clear that Real Madrid were prepared to throw everything at Dortmund. But while they did have plenty of talent on the pitch, they hadn’t been in this sort of situation before: one where they were faced with the arduous task of clawing back three goals. It wasn’t just that Borussia Dortmund (the same Dortmund that had failed to qualify from the group stages of last season’s tournament) had put four past Madrid at the Signal-Iduna Park, but how they had done it, taking advantage of Madrid’s failure to turn up in the second half as Robert Lewandowski plundered three in a space of a little more that fifteen minutes. For Madrid, the desire was there, the commitment was there, the passion was there. So was the determination to even the odds. The plan from the start was simple: take an early lead and press Dortmund in an attempt to turn the tables. Three goals were after all enough to take Real to the final (provided the German side didn’t score in Spain) and they had done time and time again in La Liga. But this wasn’t any ordinary game in Spain’s top flight. This was the second leg of the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League where Real were trailing 4-1 even before the game had begun. And the pressure told. That was evident whenever Madrid shaped to shoot. In the second minute, Angel Di Maria fired well over when a little more composure would have tested Weidenfeller. In the fifth minute, he repeated the same, when it would have been wiser to look for a team mate. On another day, he would have done so, but the situation yesterday dictated otherwise. That profligacy in front of goal clearly took a toll on his confidence. In the closing stages of the game, he was in an excellent position to shoot just outside the box but preferred to pass to Kaka who was quickly closed down by two Dortmund players. Gonzalo Higuain tried to make himself available every time a team mate had the ball, but a combination of the linesman and an astute Dortmund back line conspired to keep him from finding the back of the net. Xabi Alonso wasn’t his normal, probing self. While both him and Michael Essien did try to find out team mates by launching long balls from midfield, they were more often than not wayward. Luka Modric, full of running, did find his team mates, but they were shut down before they could acclimatise themselves to having the ball at their feet. Even Cristiano Ronaldo, who is normally imperious in the white of Madrid and the maroon of Portugual, cut a frustrated figure, being forced to flit in and out of the game instead of dominating it like he normally does. When he was presented with a scoring opportunity, he was either thwarted by Weidenfeller or put under pressure by one of Neven Subotic or Mats Hummels, forcing him to shoot wide. Every single Real Madrid player gave it their all out there. It was just that it was too much to do on the night. Dortmund, when they had the ball, initially tried to do their best to keep it away from the hosts for as long a time as possible. It was possession for possession’s sake, sacrificing creation in the process. But as the initial impetus of Real Madrid’s assault wore off, Dortmund began to create chances of their own. Given that Real were pouring forward every time they got the ball with a frequency that only increased when Benzema and Kaka came on, Dortmund were presented with some very clear cut scoring opportunities of their own. Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan had chances to seal the game for good, but it was a sharp Diego Lopez who did very well to deny them. It was clear that Jurgen Klopp’s plan A had been to fight fire with fire and it nearly worked. But his decision to bring on club captain Sebastian Kehl, his most experienced player in this competition, for Lewandowski turned out to be the right decision. The Dortmund defence were coming under increasing pressure and a goal seemed inevitable. When it did come, it brought more than just the breaking of the deadlock. That goal brought belief and confidence to the eleven players out there. That goal rekindled hope which was so evident on the faces of the Real Madrid bench and belief in the eighty thousand-odd fans that crammed into the stadium and the millions of people glued to their television sets throughout the world. And when Sergio Ramos blasted home the second, that glimmer of hope increased ever so slightly in brightness and intensity. For all the talk about achieving the impossible and Dortmund having already booked their tickets to the final, Real Madrid were doing everything they could to ensure that they would come one step closer to achieving La Decimal. They say well begun is half done. Jose Mourinho’s side did not begin the second half in Dortmund well. And while they did kick off with intensity in Madrid, the yellow-blacks had done their homework. And that shows us just how much Dortmund have grown as a club over the past year. My grapes, meanwhile, lay forgotten in the corner.