Real Madrid won 2-0 against German champions Borussia Dortmund in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final at the Santiago Bernabeu late last night, but it was not enough to take them to the finals as the Germans qualified 4-3 on aggregate.
Dortmund had beat the Spanish team 4-1 with four superb Robert Lewandowski goals in Dortmund in the first leg last week and Madrid had the huge task of overturning the deficit in front of their home fans.
The Spanish started the match on the front foot and crowded the German goal for the first twenty-five minutes, however could not apply finishing touches to the many chances which they were later left to rue. The thrilling end-to-end encounter did not result in any goals in the first half.
Dortmund exerted their influence in the second half and did not allow Madrid many chances to go forward.
With a 0-0 score at the 80th minute, for many the tie was all but over. However, the last ten minutes were radically different where two goals within five minutes by Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema gave Madrid a fighting chance and a lingering hope.
With the score at 2-0, the Galacticos needed only one more goal to qualify for the finals on away goal basis, but Die Borussen held on till the last minute to keep the score that way. The team from Dortmund have not played a European final since 1997 when they won 3-1 against Juventus.
Dortmund will await the winner of tonight’s other semi-final between Barcelona and Bayern Munich to see who they will play against in the final at the Wembley Stadium on 25th May 2013. Tonight’s match will also see a Spanish team trying to overturn a four goal deficit against a German team to qualify for the final.