Borussia Dortmund fell short of their Spanish opponents today, who at one point seemed to be winning the match, 2-1, but they will be satisfied that they are just one goal behind them when they return to Germany.
It’s possible that the absence of Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland, and Kylian Mbappe detracted a lot of attention from this match, but it always appeared like the most tightly contested match of this week’s European Cup quarterfinals. This season, both Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid have faced overwhelming domestic challenges; thus, what better way to turn the tide of the campaign than to compete for the ultimate reward of European glory?
The Metropolitano was, as one would assume, a boiling pot of cacophony that would soon explode. Atlético has never lost a home Champions League knockout match in this tough environment, which has welcomed no visitors. As the home team’s bus ascended the road into the Metropolitano stadium, thousands of spectators greeted them and hundreds of flares were released, adding to the festive atmosphere created by the springtime sun.
Dortmund attempted to take the early lead in the game by having the ball in their possession, but an Atléti counterattack quickly exposed them. With a brilliant ball, Antoine Griezmann opened up the floundering Borussia defense, but Álvaro Morata’s attempt to score was stopped. That wouldn’t matter, however, since Rodrigo de Paul scored the first goal for the hosts with what seemed like a matter of seconds when he pounced on a loose ball at the outside of the box.
Dortmund was under constant pressure from Atlético, and it seemed certain that they would score another goal. Although goalkeeper Gregor Kobel brilliantly stopped Axel Witsel’s flick, the home team’s momentum continued. The opposition half must have felt like an oasis in the desert to the German side, who were suffocating the visitors on the ball. In the fourteenth minute, Griezmann almost scored again due to further careless play.
Dortmund just couldn’t get the attacking line to connect. The ball just didn’t stay, and it would return straight back at them if they managed to penetrate the Atletico Madrid middle. After 30 minutes, Dortmund got a corner and a chance after some deft movement and a low driven cross from Jadon Sancho, but the hosts had doubled their advantage in only two minutes.
A mix-up between two Dortmund defenders gave Atléti another opportunity to score. Samuel Lino found himself with acres of open inside the Borussia box after Griezmann gathered up a ball. The home crowd went crazy when the winger completed an error-free pass and extended his body to shoot the ball into the far corner.
The Atlético block seemed to slowly back off after that, allowing Dortmund to eventually enter the game and start creating some opportunities. The halftime siren went off, but it’s possible that the way things went in the first half hinted at what may happen in the second—a deeper Atléti and more possession for the visitors.
It wasn’t tough for Dortmund to start the second half of the game better than the first. When Niclas Füllkrug was brought down in the box, he thought he should have been given a penalty. Though technically it was the type of situation that would have resulted in an outside-the-box free-kick, VAR decided that it was permissible.
Sébastien Haller replaced Julian Brandt for Dortmund with half an hour remaining in regular time. Even though the play leveled off, the game went off without any problems. Up until the 75th minute, when Samuel Lino was stopped. He managed to go totally unnoticed into the back post area to meet an Atléti free-kick, but Dortmund goalkeeper Kobel again produced a fantastic stop, blocking the forward’s close-range attempt.
Then the knockout blow arrived. Dortmund created some space, and as soon as the Ivorian striker Haller turned in the area, he shot the loose ball past Jan Oblak with ease. Ángel Correa seemed to be ready to make it 3-1 in a fantastic match, but Mats Hummels sneaked a toe to the ball just before the Argentinean could pull the trigger. Dortmund struck the crossbar a few seconds later, setting up an exciting game finale after a mostly calm second half.
With the last stroke of the match, Julian Brandt hit the Spanish bar once more. This was a true game of two halves, and Dortmund proved in the closing minutes of the contest that they could really hurt Atletico Madrid when they were playing at the front of the game.
You believed that the home team would need to have a sizable home advantage going into Wednesday night’s opening leg in Madrid. A 2-0 lead seems certain and would have been a fantastic outcome, but Dortmund’s ability to reduce that margin in half is just astounding. The Germans will be quietly optimistic about their ability to overcome a one-goal disadvantage.
This game has ninety minutes remaining, and the reward is very enormous: a spot in the European Cup semifinals.
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