Match date: 24 April 2013

A day after Bayern Munich put in an impressive display against Barcelona, another German and Spanish semifinal awaited between the record holder of most European Cups in Real Madrid and the only team in the competition that remains unbeaten.

Dortmund came out as expected with arguably their strongest strong, however, Real Madrid were without Alvaro Arbeloa, which meant the inclusion of Pepe at centre back with Sergio Ramos going out to right back. Another interesting decision by Jose Mourinho was to start Luka Modric as part of his midfield three with Mesut Özil on the right rather than Özil in the middle and Di Maria on the right.

Dortmund set up in a more traditional 4-2-3-1 than Real Madrid, who looked more like a 4-3-3 with the high play of Ronaldo and Özil on the wings and Sami Khedira’s presence forward.

Gündoğan and Götze

Both Gündoğan and Götze had a significant impact in their part of the field when Dortmund were both with and without the ball. Gündoğan, who has been very good throughout Dortmund’s Champions League campaign, had freedom in the middle of the field to pick passes and receive the ball from Hummels and Subotic while working well on the defensive side, closing down Modric and Khedira well. His freedom in the middle was due to Higuain’s lack of closing down; he neither pressed Hummels or Subotic hard nor did he try to disrupt Gündoğan. In the Bayern Munich match, Gomez and Müller worked hard to ensure Sergio Busquets didn’t have his typical freedom and showed just how important it was to work hard to close down the deeper lying midfielder in sides like Dortmund and Barcelona.

Gündoğan was able to receive the ball with relative ease and distribute to the wide players and Robert Lewandowski, who did well dropping into midfield to receive the ball.

He showed versatility in his role as well. As Dortmund worked hard to cut out Real Madrid’s spells of possession, Gündoğan won the ball back well and was able to send his teammates on counter attacks. As Dortmund really got a hold of the game in the second half, he was able to push forward, not just positionally, but with powerful runs forward, including a really good run that forced Diego Lopez into a save.

Götze did his part as well. On paper, he was the middle of Dortmund’s three behind Lewandowski, but rarely did he stay in that area. Xabi Alonso was certainly told by Jose Mourinho that he had a task to try to keep Götze out of the game as much as possible, as he had done very well against Lionel Messi in the El Clasicos in late February and early March.

However, against Götze, it was much more difficult as Götze never stayed in any area for very long, drifting laterally out to the wide areas frequently to receive the ball as he did for Dortmund’s first goal and create numbers-up situations. He had freedom in the wide areas due to Özil and Ronaldo not tracking back and the first goal may have been the result of the exclusion of Di Maria in Real Madrid’s starting XI. He is seen as Madrid’s only really defensive winger, at least by Mourinho as we saw in the Galatasaray match, and perhaps his inclusion would have filled the space on the left side that Götze was able to drift into.

Lewandowski v Higuain

The match displayed polar opposite displays from each team’s striker. Lewandowski obviously being the better of the two as he got four goals, but it wasn’t just his goal scoring feats that bettered Higuain, he was much more willing to work for his team on and off the ball. Lewandowski consistently dropped into midfield to receive the ball to either his feet or chest and looked to get his teammates involved and spin off into space. His movement dragged Pepe and Varane out of their comfort areas, a good example being early on when Lewandowski received the ball and carried it into Dortmund’s half on the right touchline with Varane following him.

Reus v Ronaldo

Both deployed on the left side of their teams attack, Reus might not have gotten a goal, but he bested Ronaldo on both side of the ball. Reus’ running with the ball took Real’s defenders out of position, a good example being his run that led to a shot which Lopez parried into the path of a free Lewandowski who was all alone because of Reus’ dragging of Real defenders. Ronaldo didn’t have the same impact, a lot of which had to do to Dortmund’s good defending. Within the opening minutes, Ronaldo dribbled a ball out of play after being pressed by Piszczek and Blaszczykowski.

Their work without the ball was completely different too as Ronaldo stayed high up the pitch, Reus would drop to help Schmelzer. Reus won each of his 3 tackles, Ronaldo didn’t attempt one.

Dortmund Without the Ball

One of the key parts to Dortmund’s win was pressing Real and winning the ball back quickly. Pressing is really a key to any success that Dortmund has had over this year’s Champions League campaign; when they press well, they win (and when they press okay, they simply draw). Dortmund put pressure on Real Madrid’s back four as well as their midfielders, winning six of their seven tackles attempted in Real Madrid’s half.

Conclusion

Dortmund were the better side throughout the match and put in a fantastic display. They really outplayed Real Madrid in every part of the field, with Hummels and Subotic both very comfortable, the midfield winning the ball back well and connecting passes, and Lewandowski and Götze both controlling the attacking play in different ways. They only looked nervy after conceding, but were lucky to have half time just minutes away to allow them to settle again.