Match Report: Dortmund fall to Madrid 1-3 in UEFA Champions League group stage

Borussia Dortmund are facing a mammoth task of getting past the UEFA Champions League group stages after they were beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid Match Day 2.

Borussia Dortmund put forth a demanding effort against Real Madrid, but fell short of making a positive statement against the back-to-back UEFA champions. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the only goal for BVB yet again in a UEFA Champions league match.

During the pre-match, several BVB fans had stern looks upon their face as the camera panned around the stadium. The fans realized how important the upcoming match would be for their UEFA knockout stage hopes.

Dourtmund XI: Burki, Piszczek, Sokratis, Toprak, Toljan, Castro, Gotze, Sahin, Yarmolenko, Aubameyang, Philipp

Peter Bosz made only three changes to the side that trashed Monchengladbach over the weekend. Gonzalo Castro, Nuri Sahin and Andriy Yarmolenko all came into the side for the home side.

Madrid XI: Navas, Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Nacho, Casemiro, Modric, Kroos, Isco, Ronaldo, Vazquez

Zinedine Zidane on the other hand made 2 changes to his line up from Madrid’s last match. Starting the match were Luka Modric and Gareth Bale over Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio. Modric and Bale were not substituted in during Madrid’s 2-1 win over Alaves.

First Half

The start of the match saw Dortmund continue to play the high-line that Peter Bosz has brought into the Bundesliga. Within the opening three minutes, BVB’s first opportunity was created by Jeremy Toljan, whose cross to Aubameyang was cleared out by Sergio Ramos.

Around the 9^th minute, Carvajal made a run down Dortmund’s left side almost unopposed. Toprak managed to trip himself pass Carvajal’s run, giving him Carvajal the chance to shoot. Luckily for the hosts, Burki was able to save the shot.

A few minutes later, BVB made an attack that saw Yarmolenko barely send his cross over Aubameyang. The ball was sent back in by Philipp and was clearly blocked by Sergio Ramos’ hand in the six yard box. No penalty was given and Borussia Dortmund were left frustrated by poor refereeing once again.

Just past the 17^th minute, Carvajal crossed the ball to a not so tightly guarded Bale, and Bale knocked the volley in for the first goal of the game. More frustration for Peter Bosz’ side.

With 37 minutes gone, Aubameyang had a prime opportunity in the box to level the scores. But he was controversially called offside with Carvjal arguably playing him on. The first half ended in disappointment for the home side, as Real Madrid led 1-0

Second Half

At the start of the half, Dortmund pushed for an early goal. The cross from Gotze was not capitalized on in the box and was subsequently cleared out by Varane.

After 48 minutes, Bale assisted Ronaldo in a fairly open box. Ronaldo turned in the goal to make it 0-2 Madrid. Toprak attempted to stop the ball, but was late towards making the tackle. Three minutes later, Toprak got a yellow card for a slide tackle on Isco.

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With 53 minutes played, Dortmund showed resilience gets results as Castro crossed the ball into the box towards Aubameyang, who tapped in the goal while being challenge by Ramos in the air. Suddenly, Dortmund were right back in the game.

Julian Weigl was subbed on in the 59^th minute for Mahmoud Dahoud. Weigl was given a yellow card for a slide tackle on Ronaldo just three minutes later. Peter Bosz waited till the 75th minute to bring on Christian Pulisic.

However just minutes later, Modric sent Ronaldo a through ball and the Portuguese international made it 3-1 for Madrid.

Vasquez and Ceballos got on the field for Madrid late in the game. At that point, the game was over. Real Madrid had beaten Dortmund, leaving Dortmund with plenty of work to do ahead of Matchday 3.