The final sprint was late: Borussia Dortmund missed a surprise in the heat of East Rutherford against an ice -cold real Madrid.
Marcel Sabitzer desperately got his hair. The Austrian would have saved a long-term harmless Borussia Dortmund against Real Madrid at the last second, but a monster parade by Thibaut Courtois prevented the surprise at the club World Cup. Like FC Bayern, BVB was eliminated in the quarter -finals.
The crazy Dortmund final spurt with the gates of Joker Maximilian Beier (90.+2) after an error by Antonio Rüdiger and Serhou Guirassy (90.+8, penalty) came too late. Co-favorite Madrid with coach Xabi Alonso kept the upper hand in the Metlife stage 3: 2 (2: 0) and demands the Bavaria converter Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday (10:00 p.m./Sat.1 and DAZN).
World Cup discovery Gonzalo García (10th) with his fourth tournament goal, Fran García (20th) and substitute superstar Kylian Mbappé (90.+4) ended the BVB series of eleven mandatory games without defeat. At temperatures of 32 degrees, the Borussia had little to oppose the quality of the champions of the Champions League over long distances. Only when it seemed over did Dortmund come up again. Real defender Dean Huijsen looked like a spider against Guirassy Red before the penalty, but Sabitzer missed the 3: 3.
Brandt and Sabitzer at BVB in the starting eleven
0: 2 in the final of the premier class 2024, then 2: 5 in the league – after the recent defeats against the royal, Dortmund wanted to turn the tide. But coach Niko Kovac was warned. “We know about the danger of this team,” he said, “but we also hope to get our game through.” How? “Place the depth! If you play everything in your foot, you will have problems creating opportunities.”
For this he took Julian Brandt and Marcel Sabitzer into the team instead of the blocked Jobe Bellingham and the slightly battered Felix Nmecha. While Brandt awarded the first chance of the game (6th), Sabitzer should provide “compactness” as a “clear six”. But that didn’t work, big holes always opened up on the Dortmund defensive.
Real took control and the Borussians hardly came after Madrid put on the pace – although Alonso initially spared some stars like Mbappé. “Dortmund is one of the top teams in Europe and it is used to getting far in the Champions League, it will be hard,” the coach predicted, but he was wrong.
With defense chief Rüdiger in the triple chain and the ex-Dortmund Jude Bellingham in midfield, Real, as planned by Alonso, planned the events in the best Leverkusen style. Much to the delight of the fans, the vast majority of whom cheered for Madrid.
Kovac changes work in halftime
After a few half chances, Arda Güler was able to flank freely – own grown Gonzalo García, who again represented Mbappé, carried out the lead by remarkable direct acceptance at the five -meter space. His namesake Fran García increased from six meters after a sharp cross from newcomer Trent Alexander-Arnold.
After that, Real let the opponent come and relocated to lightning -fast counterattack. A Vinicius Junior Castle after a mistake by Daniel Svensson, but raised the ball over the goal (40th). Kovac scolded: “We are too slow!”
The Croatian was willing to correct this. His means: a triple change with the restart. Among other things, NMECHA came for Pascal Groß, Maximilian Beier should provide speed for the ineffective Karim Adeyemi.
However, the BVB was not mandatory, Beier’s shot (61st) was easy prey for Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Alonso could even allow himself to spare strength for the cracker against PSG again in the 2026 World Cup. Rüdiger missed the 3: 0 (90.+1) before it became turbulent in the final phase.