Borussia Dortmund En route To UEFA Champions League Final. 

Borussia Dortmund will return to London at Wembley Stadium to face Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final with mixed emotions. In 2013, they reached the finals playing on the same ground but ended up on the losing end to Bayern Munich. So those scars will still be present as they prepare to battle with Madrid, the most successful club in the competition. Let’s look at their path to the final.

Top The Group Of Death

Considering that Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan, Newcastle, and Paris Saint-German were drawn together in the group. Many football fanatics across the globe considered the group as of death with every team being able to either go through or be eliminated. Dortmund started on a back foot losing the opening match to PSG then followed by a goalless draw to Milan.

But three consecutive wins including two over Newcastle United and Milan put them into the driving seat to progress to the next round. They ended a group with a draw with PSG to ensure they top the standings with 11 points and had extended their unbeaten run to four matches.

Cruise Past PSV Eindhoven

Dortmund were happy to note that opponents waiting in their way are PSV Eindhoven in the last 16. They knew it would be not a big task to dispatch them. Things did go according to the plan. Visiting the Dutch side, Dortmund needed to avoid defeat to finish the job at home. 

Donyell Malen drew the first blood against his former side before Luuk DE Jong equalized in the second half as the match ended 1-1 in Netherlands. Then at Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund were on top for the whole match. Manchester United flop signing Jadon Sancho opened the scoring before Marco Reus strike in the death to give the home side a comfortable victory. Despite the attacking display shown by PSV, they were not able to convert the chances, so they bowled out of the competition.

See-saw Tie With Atletico Madrid

Awaiting opponents in the quarter-finals was Atletico Madrid. Dortmund was expected to dig deep to advance to the next round. In Spain, Dortmund suffered a 2-1 loss following Samuel Leno and Rodrigo DE Paul scoring for the home side. But a late goal by Sebastian Haller stood to be crucial to the tie.

In the second leg in front of the packed Signal Iduna Park Stadium, Dortmund scored four goals with the away side responding with two goals as Yellow and Black progressed to the last four in a 5-4 aggregate. The progressive football in the second match was what set them alight as they booked the first semi-finals for the first time in 11 years.

Get The Revenge Over PSG

Dortmund knew they wouldn’t match PSG pound to pound in terms of attacking. So, they had to introduce the defensive approach and catch them on the counter-attack. The two sides were in the same group with the PSG dominating the tie winning and drawing the other one. Dortmund were a tactical display to win both matches by the tiniest 1-0 margins. The experienced defender Matt Hummels was the rock in the defense and even scored the goal in the second half.

Key Players

Marcel Sabitzer

After frustrating two years of his career, Sabitzer is finally enjoying himself on the field. The 25-year-old former Bayern Munich attacking player has provided five assists and has one goal under his belt in this year’s competition. At times, Dortmund needed composure, so Sabitzer came to the party. He has been a great player to watch this season.

Matt Hummels

 At the age of 35, Hummels has been a pillar to the Dortmund achievement and the progress to the final. The versatile defender has been classic in terms of commanding the defense this season. It surprising that many people have written him off after being released by Bayern Munich some years ago. The way he managed to put a class performance against PSG against top-class attackers got everyone applauding him.