Real Dortmund: the bitterest victory of Cristiano’s generation
Borussia Dortmund returns to the Santiago Bernabeu. Besides being a re-run of the last Champions League final and a reminder of the ninetieth goal episode, the match between yellow and white evokes the image of Robert Lewandowski at Signal Iduna Park raising his hand and showing four fingers after a goal. poker against Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final 12/13. This image was left for posterity, but it came close, just one goal, to becoming just a bad memory of another historic comeback. The one that never came. An attempt at a wonderful night of the Christian generation. His most bitter victory.
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After a painful defeat to Bayern Munich on penalties in the 11/12 season, in which the Whites beat La Liga, the 12/13 season left everything in favor of the Champions League at the Bernabeu, where Madrid were more chaotic than during season. . Having eliminated Manchester United thanks to a superb goal from Modric and Galatasaray, Real Madrid advanced to their third straight European semi-final against Dortmund. After a terrible night in the first leg, Madrid were preparing for a magnificent comeback.
The atmosphere of the great European night and typhus in the background caused a storm. “Madrid is vibrating with this,” and a giant mosaic-shaped Champions League greeted the players at a packed Bernabeu, who asked for “Janito’s eleven.”
The match began with two long-range shots from Varane and Di Maria, which went high. The Whites started the game carried away by the momentum of their stadium, but the coin came up heads with every stroke of luck they needed to get to Wembley. The first was born due to Schmelzer’s oversight. Modric took the ball from him on the flank, Ozil controlled it in front and put Higuain in front of Weidenfeller. A couple of maneuvers to receive the ball and a powerful shot from the number 20, which the Dortmund number 1 performed with his right foot. The goalkeeper won the one-on-one match and gave life to the yellows, who dodged the first shot after 3 minutes.
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The arrivals followed one after another until Lewandowski warned with a dangerous strike in the 12th minute. Immediately after this came another key moment in Dortmund’s favor. Higuain came on for Ozil and this time it was the Argentine striker who made it ten in a one-on-one match with Weidenfeller. As Pipita looked for the long post and eventually took it, Ozil tried a short shot like Mbappe. He adjusted himself so well and covered the goal so well that the shot went wide of the goal.
Cristiano also had his own. The Portuguese received a long pass into the center of the penalty area, stopped it with his chest and finished it off with his right foot. Everything was smiling for Weidenfeller. A crashing Champions League ball hit him squarely on the shoulder. Kaka’s shot missed the post… Nothing pleased the Whites until the 83rd and 88th minutes. Benzema crossed from the right to make it 1-0 and Sergio Ramos, captain on the night with Casillas coming on as a substitute, made it 2-0 with a pass from the Frenchman and a superb strike from the centre-forward.
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The Bernabeu was burning with the proximity of a possible comeback, but there were no longer any big chances. The referee blew the final whistle, Mourinho hugged Klopp, Cristiano thanked the respected man for his support, and all the white players showed disappointed faces. Meanwhile, the German coach, wearing his iconic horn-rimmed glasses, took to the pitch to celebrate his progress to the final alongside Lewandovskis, Hummels, Götze and Reus, who weathered an almost perfect storm (21 shots, 10 on target) at the Santiago Bernabeu. .
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