German territory has never been positive soil for Real Madrid & tonight once again they lost but won the UEFA Champions League Q/Final tie on aggregate & thanks to their efforts in Madrid.
Perhaps it is easy to say after the result, but Real Madrid Coach made the mistake of starting with Illaramendi ( defensive attitude ) who was out of place & making continual mistakes. In the 2º half Ancelotti put on Isco who managed to give Real Madrid more possession of the ball & made some goal opportunities, the change itself highlights the initial line-up mistake.
The absence of Cristiano Ronaldo due to his knee complaint was definitely noted & Real Madrid lacked the fire power upfront to have wrapped up the match earlier.
The moment, the crucial moment of the match for Real Madrid was the 16th min when Di Maria missed a penalty. That miss lifted totally Borussia Dortmund & gave them wings & faith to attempt to pull a comeback. If the penalty had been converted Dortmund would had to score 5 goals & it would have been over.
The Germans then scored in the 23rd min through Reus after a terrible Pepe mistake heading back to Casillas. This set the nerves racing through the whole Real Madrid team, & with the intense pressure applied by the Germans lead to countless mistakes from the Spaniards that lead to more goal opportunities for Dortmund.
The second goal came from a terrible Illaramendi mistake in the midfield that allowed Reus to play with Lewandoski & then receive to fire the goal in the 36th min.
It seemed at this stage that Borussia would totally overrun the Spaniards & the half-time whistle was the best things that could have occured for Real Madrid.
The second half saw Isco come on in an attempt to dominate the ball more & allow Real Madrid to play. It worked as Real Madrid found itself with much more goal opportunities than in the second half. Benzema had some clear chances with Dortmund goalie Weindenfeller working more & harder. Bale had some chances & even Isco had opportunities.
But Dortmund never ceased in their attempts & perhaps deserved more of a reward as Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas made 2 - 3 match saving stops & the goal post stopped a third Borussia goal from a Mkhitaryan attempt.
Real Madrid Coach Ancelotti then put on young midfielder Casemiro who in his short period made some decisive tackles & plays. Casemiro was fundamental in stopping the Germans in the final moments. In the end Real Madrid held on, just, to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals phase with a 3 - 2 aggregate advantage. However, it was a terrible match from them tonight & Dortmund has all the arguments to think that they should have been rewarded with much more. Said this, any Real Madrid fan could say legitimately that the team did enough to halt the Germans & the objective of passing was attained.
While Reus, Lewandoski, Jojic & Mkhitaryan were great for Dortmund, Gareth Bale was very disappointing. Tonight everyone expected more from Bale, tonight was his moment to shine without Cristiano Ronaldo on the field & a chance to take on full responsibility. Terrible game from the Welshman with some diving including that will be used against him locally as the player is gaining a bad reputation for attempting to "fake" penalties & also for his "egoistic" plays. Some have compared Bale to a race horse with blinders.
Lastly, the match tonight gave Real Madrid 5 yellow cards with Xabi Alonso & Benzema included. Something to note as accumulation of cards will leave out key players in the important semis & perhaps a possible Champions League Final.
Tomorrow more Champions League action with two Spanish Football Clubs playing it out, Atletico de Madrid & FC Barcelona.
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