The better team made the final of the Champions League, despite the late drama caused by goals from Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos. Cristiano Ronaldo never showed up, possibly not completely fit for this kind of match, and Real Madrid didn’t do enough for long enough to beat a team that was once again their superior.
But if you put those dramatic 10 minutes in the end, we’re left with one announcement – Borussia Dortmund make it to the Champions League final for the second time in their history, hoping to repeat their win from the 1997 final against Juventus.
Remontada has been the word on everyone’s lips in Madrid, hoping that a 4-1 deficit against a team like Dortmund is possible. But despite an early blitz, Roman Weidenfeller withstood the pressure, and Borussia Dortmund went to work.
Lukasz Piszczek completely shut down Cristiano Ronaldo on the left wing, while Ilkay Gundogan, Marco Reus and Robert Lewandowski did everything right on the offensive side, except for scoring goals. Diego Lopez isn’t Iker Casillas; he’s been better than him this season, and a lot of wins Real Madrid managed to come up with have been thanks to him. Eventually, he was almost the reason they managed to poach a match and reach the Champions League final.
Real Madrid had 20 minutes, 10 in the beginning and 10 in the start, of which they can be proud of. The rest was Dortmund, all across the pitch, with Robert Lewandowski making the life of Sergio Ramos and anyone who tried to mark him a living nightmare. If it wasn’t for the crossbar, it could have been a one-man wrecking crew that made Real Madrid bow down.
Instead, it was a team. Dortmund nearly lost it in the end, playing naively, with Jurgen Klopp making the mistake of taking off a striker and giving his team the signal to start stressing. Eventually, Real Madrid ran out of luck after Sergio Ramos scored his goal. Cristiano Ronaldo had chances to create something and do something significant, but he lost every challenge he had with a Dortmund player, and made every possible mistake.
Real Madrid might feel like they were nearly there, but they were much further than that last minute goal they needed. It began with Jose Mourinho once again being outclassed by Jurgen Klopp, and ended with Cristiano Ronaldo in his worst match of the season.