Borussia Dortmund qualified for their second ever Champions League final on Tuesday, beating Real Madrid 4-3 on aggregate despite losing the second leg of their semi-final 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu. Needing a huge turnaround from the first leg last week, Real seemed to have run out of steam after Gonzalo Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil had passed up early opportunities.
However, after Robert Lewandowski had smashed the underside of the bar and Diego Lopez prevented Ilkay Gundogan with an incredible save from close range, Madrid were given a lifeline in the 83rd minute when substitute Karim Benzema swept home Ozil's low cross. And six minutes later they had real hope of an incredible comeback as captain Sergio Ramos rifled a shot into the roof of the net. But Dortmund withstood the onslaught in an agonising five minutes of stoppage time to seal their place at the final at Wembley next month.
Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp said Real may have been the better side on the night but it meant nothing as his side had achieved their goal of reaching the final and he was immensely proud of his players. "It isn't too hard to reveal what I thought during those last 10 minutes: if God wished it then we would qualify for the final," said Klopp. "But it has to be said that it was a crazy match, from start to finish.
"From the first second the Real players were doing everything they could to get the referee on their side." Ramos, who wouldn't have played in the final anyway because he picked up a booking meaning he would have been suspended, said it was a pity Real hadn't played the same way in the first leg. "It is a shame," Ramos told TVE afterwards. "You can lose but it is better to do it like this. Football is like this. "If we had done half of what we have done today in Dortmund, it would have been different.
For Real and coach Jose Mourinho it meant going out at the same stage for the third successive year. The intense atmosphere created by the home fans before kick-off was matched by their team's energetic start and Higuain missed a great chance after just four minutes as he was slipped in by Ozil but Roman Weidenfeller stood up well to block his effort.
Angel Di Maria and Ronaldo then saw efforts fly over and Dortmund suffered a big blow on 12 minutes when Mario Goetze pulled up with an injury after hitting a routine ball forward. However, whilst still playing with 10 men, they had their best chance of the opening period as Lewandowski controlled a long free-kick from Gundogan but placed his shot too close to Lopez.
Seconds later Ronaldo had an even better chance as he too chested down a long ball before volleying straight into Weidenfeller's body before Kevin Grosskreutz could even come on to take Dortmund back up to their full compliment. Ozil then had the best opportunity of the first half as a lovely reverse ball from Di Maria put him clean through on goal but he pulled his shot wide of the near post. After a chastening first 15 minutes Dortmund settled admirably as their patience in possession made an increasingly desperate Madrid chase shadows at times.