Real Madrid got surprised last night in Dortmund in another UEFA Champions League fixture, after losing 2-1 against an enthusiastic home side. The Germans got the first lead of the game, but saw Cristiano Ronaldo equalizing shortly after, deep in the first half. After the break, Dortmund ended up showing more attitude and reached the winning goal from a good strike by their left-back, Marcel Schmelzer.
Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid clashed in a fully packed "Signal Iduna Park" stadium this Wednesday night, with the UEFA Champions League Group D leadership at stake. The German champions came on top at the end, beating the Merengues by a narrow 2-1 and switched places with José Mourinho's men at the top of the group standings. Cristiano Ronaldo left his mark once again, levelling things up near the half-time in another terrific goal for his personal gallery. However, the Merengues struggled mostly in their defensive line, as Sergio Ramos playing as right-back and especially Michael Essien as left-back are still far from providing the consistency and stability the team needs.
It's not everyday that we're able to see the current German and Spanish champions locking horns in the UEFA Champions League. Both teams have legitimate expectations of reaching the late stages of the competition this season, but ended up being drawn in one of the toughest groups possible. Borussia Dortmund knew this home fixture against Real Madrid was an immense game not only for the players, but also for the fans in the crowd. A sold-out Iduna Park didn't let anyone down this Wednesday night, generating a thrilling atmosphere and worthy of a truly magical evening.
The first goal of the night took place around the 36th minute of the first half and it all began in a serious mistake made by Pepe. The Portuguese defender failed to connect a short pass to Mesut Ozil near the midfield line, as he gave away the ball to Sebastian Kehl. The German midfielder reacted fast and immediatly served Robert Lewandowski, who found himself with plenty of space to drive the ball towards Casillas direction and beat the Spanish goalkeeper in a nicely taken strike. The first lead had just been taken by the home side and the crowd went wild as Real Madrid was struggling to find a way to impose their game so far.
However, whenever Real Madrid needs to react, the answer usually comes by a name: Cristiano Ronaldo. Just two minutes after the opener, Mesut Ozil made a superb long pass to the back of Dortmund's back line, allowing for Ronaldo to make use of his speed and extreme composure in front of Weidenfeller, just before chipping the ball above the goalkeeper and restore the equalizer. The Portuguese forward reached his 5th goal in the competition (his 16th of the season for Real Madrid) and celebrated it in fashion style, with his already trademarked "Calma, Calma" (slowdown, slowdown) hand gestures, popularized in the recent Clasicos against Barcelona.
Half-time was on the way and both tems had to settle for a 1-1 draw after the first 45 minutes. After the break, the game story wouldn't be very different from what we had seen so far and it all summed up to Borussia Dortmund seizing their opportunities from Real Madrid defensive mistakes. The Merengues have a problem on the their left wing, since both Marcelo and Fábio Coentrão are still ruled out and unavailable to play in a near future. To take that spot, José Mourinho has been trusting on Michael Essien, but the former Chelsea midfielder isn't exactly tailor made for left-back and he doesn't always respond efficiently, as it was the case this Wednesday night.
With 64 minutes on the clock, Mario Gotze found space to run down the line on the right wing, got rid of Essien's marking for a few instants and put in a dangerous cross into Real Madrid's area. Iker Casillas intercepted the cross but failed to clear the ball away to a safe zone and left it bouncing just a few meters ahead of him. For Real Madrid's misfortune, Dortmund's left back Marcel Schmelzer found himself with all the time in the World to prepare his strike and simply aimed at Casillas left post, leaving few chances for the Spanish goalkeeper to even attempt to make contact with the ball. Two big mistakes from Real Madrid's defense allowed for Borussia Dortmund to overcome their opponent last night and no one from the Merengues can really complain about the fate of the game, since this is usually the price it is paid in high competition level.
As for Ronaldo, the Portuguese got his 5th goal of the campaign, leads the UEFA Champions League top goalscorer standings in 2012-13 and is now 2 goals apart from several other players who run behind him in 2nd place. Real Madrid will have their chance to retake Group D's leadership in about 2 weeks from now, when they host Borussia Dortmund at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Real Madrid will be against Mallorca, for the Spanish League 'La Liga' this Sunday night (28-10-2012). You can watch Juventus live stream, Mallorca vs Real Madrid, Newcastle vs Club Brugge, Liverpool vs Anzhi and Maribor vs Tottenham, all matches provided from our soccer live section.