In what looked initially like a clinical performance from Dortmund nearly turned into a miraculous comeback for Madrid as the hosts tallied twice in the final ten minutes only to come up just short of a decisive third goal.
Madrid came out of the blocks very quickly to the surprise of no one, but were never able to capitalize on their opportunities. Gonzalo Higuaín, Mesut Özil and Cristiano Ronaldo all had great chances to give Madrid a precious early goal, especially Özil who missed right with a left-footed shot in the 16th minute when he was one on one with Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.
Madrid were also unable to take advantage of the unexpected departure of Mario Gótze who left in the 13th minute with an injury and was replaced by Kevin Grosskreutz who filled in aptly.
But credit must be given to the Dortmund netminder who stood tall and helped his side overcome a nervy first 20 minutes and settle into the match that remained scoreless through halftime. Weidenfeller was also aided by exceptional performances from center backs Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels, the latter who more than made up for his horrific back pass in last week’s back pass that led to Ronaldo’'s goal in Dortmund.
Jose Mourinho'’s side avoided another Robert Lewandowski goal early in the second half when a Dortmund counter-attack saw Marco Reus feed the Polish striker on the right who then fired a shot that beat Diego López but rung off the under-side of the crossbar and back into play.
As the minutes ticked away, the frustration for Madrid grew: Missed passes, a loss of footing, poor communication and giveaway of possession afflicted Los Blancos, stumping any hopes of the goal that was voraciously craved by the Bernabeu faithful.
The hosts put all their chips on the table in the 57th minute when Mourinho brought on both Karim Benzema and the seldom-used Kaká in place of Fabio Coentrao and Higuaín.
All hope for Madrid appeared lost until the 83rd minute when Benzema scored. Kaká played a ball to Ozil whose cross to Benzema was perfect allowing the Frenchman to slam it in from close range.
The goal that the Bernabeu was hoping for happened and suddenly Madrid had a second wind. Five minutes later, Madrid had a second goal as a back pass from Benzema found Sergio Ramos who slotted past Weidenfeller. Bedlam in the Bernabeu.
With the crowd on its feet and the match at its pulsating best, Madrid threw everything forward, but were denied in the final minutes and could only watch on in despair as Dortmund celebrated their first Champions League final since 1997.
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