Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Real Madrid - 5 Talking Points

The UEFA Champions League has seen some of the greatest comebacks in football. Every season we have experienced some thrilling knockout ties where teams have delivered with their backs to the wall and overturned the deficits to progress to the next round.But one individual has been on the receiving end of these miraculous comebacks on several occasions. Carlo Ancelotti is not a stranger to this situation. The Real Madrid manager has seen guaranteed victories slip away from his grasp during his managerial days. AC Milans infamous downfall at Deportivo La Coruna and the fairytale comeback by Liverpool at the 2005 final in Istanbul even after leading 3-0 at half time leave a red mark on the Italians report card.Tuesday night was about to be another disaster at the Signal Iduna Park for the former Milan boss. Real Madrids tactics went horribly wrong in the first half. With Lewandowski returning from suspension and Marco Reus on song, Dortmund put themselves in a commendable position by scoring 2 goals in the first half.But Reals tactical changes and substitutions in the second half saved their campaign and Dortmund fell inches short of achieving their goal. Los Blancos booked their semi final berth with a 3-2 aggregate win over the two legs We take a look at 5 key factors that shaped the result.

#1 Real Madrid\'s defence still suspect

Coming into this fixture, Ancelotti and his men were well aware of the fact that Dortmund would come out all guns blazing. While Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp fielded a youthful side in the middle of the park to execute their pressing game, the Italian put in a midfield trio of Xabi Alonso, Illaramendi and Luka Modric to shield the back four. The tactics clearly portrayed the defensive mindset of the team from the start.

Dortmund kept on pressing their opponents from the first whistle. And it was quite clear that Illaramendi, Carvajal and Pepe weren’t comfortable with that. It was Pepe who made the first error with a wrongly directed back pass. His headed back pass cost the team as Marco Reus capitalized on his mistake and scored.

The second goal came as a result of panic from Illaramendi when the midfielder misplaced his pass under pressure and Dortmund made the most of it. The former Sociedad man, who is intended to replace Alonso, looked nervous and lacked composure on the ball.

His team mate Carvajal was troubled throughout the match with Grosskreutz, Lewandowski and Reus targeting Real’s goal from the right side of the field. Had it not been for Mkhitaryan’s misses and Casillas’s excellent saves, Real Madrid fans would have had to wait for another year to fulfill their La Decima dreams.