Borussia Dortmund booked their
space in the final
four of the
Champions League
with a miraculous
3-2 win over Malaga at the Signal Iduna Park. BVB failed to make
their dominance count at La Roselada last week
and it looked to be a recurring
theme when Joaquin put Manuel
Pellegrini's ahead, but Robert
Lewandowski equalised before the
break. Eliseu looked to have broken BVB hearts with a late
goal but two stoppage-time
strikes courtesy of Marco Reus
and Felipe Santana ensured an
unbelievable comeback. With the tie so delicately balanced
from the first leg, such a
conservative approach to the
early stages from both teams
was somewhat predictable. As the minutes ticked by the
hosts became more adventurous
and in the 16th minute
Lewandowski got his first chance
to shoot at goal. He elected for
an audacious 25-yard chip from Mario Gotze's pass but his
overcooked attempt floated over
the stranded Willy Caballero's goal. Los Boquerones had struggled to
string a meaningful attack
together but in the 25th minute
when they silenced the Signal
Iduna Park. Julio Baptista pounced on a poor
clearance from Felipe Santana and
his pass foundJoaquin. After a tight give-and-go with Isco, the
31-year-old cut inside onto his
left foot and sent a low shot past
Roman Weidenfeller to net a huge
away goal. Apprehension and frustration
began to spread around the
stadium but their worries were
eased five minutes before half
time. Reus flicked Gotze's pass
beautifully into the path of Lewandowski who rounded Willy and slotted the ball into the
empty net to finish off a superb
team move. Joaquin was gifted a free header
in the last action of the first half
which Weidenfeller comfortably
held and the start of the second
half offered similarly enticing
opportunities for both sides. Lewandowski was unable to guide
his shot past Willy after some
more quick, crisp interplay with
Gotze and minutes later the
Weidenfeller managed to get a
strong hand to the ball to keep Joaquin's header. Malaga continued to squeeze the
play and force the Bundesliga side
into sending the long ball up from
the back. However, when Sergio
Sanchez failed to deal with one
such pass Gotze could not find the from a glorious position in the
53rd minute. The organisation of Pellegrini's
defence was exemplary and after
Dortmund had a goal ruled out
correctly for offside, Duda's
thunderous effort almost added
to the disappointment of the home fans. The heroics of Malaga goalkeeper
Willy were a huge reason that the
first leg ended goalless and the
Argentine was at it again in the
closing stages, denying both Reus
and Gotze from close range The home fans' misery looked to
have been compounded in the
82nd minute as a swift break
from the visitors ended with
second-half substituteEliseu sweeping home from close range. Yet there was still time for one of
the most dramatic comebacks in
Champions League history, which Reus began as he slotted home following a long ball in the 91st
minute. Two minutes later the turnaround
was complete and the stadium
went from despair to unbridled
jubilation.
Following a cross from the left a
scramble in the area was put to an end whenSantana swept the ball into the net from one yard
out. Somehow Dortmund, who will be
joined in the semi-finals by Real
Madrid, managed to keep their
unbeaten home record in the
tournament intact as their
victory ended Malaga's fairytale run.
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