Report: Madrid 2-0 Dortmund (Agg 3-4)

Borussia Dortmund will
contest the 2012-13
Champions League final
after edging past Real
Madrid despite a 2-0
defeat in their semi-
final second leg at the
Bernabeu on Tuesday.
The Bundesliga side
survived an early onslaught by Jose
Mourinho's men to hold onto their 4-1
first-leg advantage for most of the game –
and had several chances to make the
aggregate score even more humiliating for
the wasteful hosts.
However, goals from Karim Benzema and
Sergio Ramos in the last 10 minutes
suddenly set up the most frantic of finishes,
but Dortmund hung on to clinch their first
final berth since 1997, when they defeated
Juventus 3-1 to win the trophy.
Angel Di Maria, benched for the first leg,
started for the hosts, while Cristiano
Ronaldo also returned after he was rested
with a thigh complaint for the Madrid derby
victory over the weekend.
Dortmund’s line-up picked itself, with
Jurgen Klopp restoring the likes of Marco
Reus and Ilkay Gundogan after resting his
regulars during Saturday’s Bundesliga win
over Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Mourinho’s men knew the magnitude of
the task at hand, and their start to the
match was suitably relentless. Gonzalo
Higuain could have opened the scoring four
minutes in, but his shot from Mesut Ozil’s
pass was right at Roman Weidenfeller.
Madrid sent a series of warnings
Dortmund’s way, but the Germans showed
a glimpse of what they were capable of
when Gundogan’s clip found Robert
Lewandowski completely unmarked for a
half-volley right at Diego Lopez.
However, Ronaldo immediately mirrored
the chance at the other end, forcing
Weidenfeller into a close range block,
before Mesut Ozil somehow dragged wide
when put clean through.
The visitors were then handed a huge blow
just before the quarter hour mark, when
Mario Gotze limped off clutching his
hamstring and was replaced by Kevin
Grosskreutz.
There was enough action in the first 15
minutes to fill an entire half of football, but
after weathering the initial storm,
Dortmund regained their composure and
slowed things down – exactly what Madrid
did not want.
In fact, the remainder of the half was
rather monotonous by comparison, leaving
Mourinho with plenty to ponder over the
break.
But Madrid’s half-time plans were almost
wrecked minutes after the restart, had
Lewandowski kept his cool when
Grosskreutz cleverly found him unmarked
inside the box, instead of blasting the ball
into orbit.
The Pole nearly made instant amends when
latching onto Reus’ slipped pass, sprinting
in behind and lashing at goal, but the ball
cannoned off the underside of the bar.