Real Madrid 5-2 Borussia Dortmund: Three Takeaways from collapse at the Bernabeu

It’s the third matchday of the UEFA Champions League and Borussia Dortmund traveled to Real Madrid for a rematch of last season’s final. While this was always going to be the most difficult match of the league phase, and the score line might suggest that it was, it still doesn’t tell the whole story. Borussia Dortmund played a brilliant first-half of football, and outclassed Real Madrid in nearly every metric.

Donyell Malen’s goal came from a brilliant team effort involving Julian Brandt and Serhou Guirassy, while Jamie Gittens showed he can bring his high-quality dribbling into a match from the first whistle.

The two-goal lead at half-time was more than deserved, but unfortunately the second-half was nothing like the first as Real Madrid did Real Madrid things, utterly dominating play and wearing down Dortmund’s defence. By the time Vinicius Junior. scored his third, the BVB players looked like they were hardly trying anymore. Waldemar Anton’s face said it all: Dortmund were cooked. There was a lot happening in this match, and even more to analyse, but I do have a few takeaways.