Germany defender Marcel Schmelzer hit a second-half winner as Borussia Dortmund beat Real Madrid 2-1 on Wednesday in the Champions League to snatch top spot in Group D from the Spanish giants.
Having beaten Ajax 1-0 at home and only been denied a win at Manchester City three weeks ago by a late penalty in the 1-1 draw, the German champions produced another battling European display at home against Jose Mourinho’s Madrid.
An opening goal by Dortmund’s Robert Lewandowski was immediately cancelled out by Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the first-half before Schmelzer’s 64th-minute winner.
Defeat drops Real to second in the group on six points with Dortmund top on seven, but the teams meet again at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in a fortnight.
Despite having been European champions nine times, Real continued their appalling record on German soil and in their 24 matches in Germany they have now suffered 17 losses and their single win was 12 years ago.
Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund produced a highly disciplined display as they bounced back from losing the Ruhr derby 2-1 at home to Schalke in the Bundesliga on Saturday to claim victory despite only around 40 percent possession.
Captain Ilker Casillas made his 125th European appearance in front of a capacity crowd of 65,829.
Both sides had early chances as Lewandowski wasted a great shooting position on 16 minutes to fire just left of goal, while Di Maria fired over for Real on 21 minutes.
Dortmund took a deserved lead after a rare mistake by Real’s Pepe saw Kehl snatch possession to thread a pass through the Madrid defence for Lewandowski to fire home on 36 minutes.
With the home crowd still celebrating, the lead lasted just two minutes as a superb pass from Germay’s Mesut Ozil found Ronaldo who lifted the ball over Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidefeller and into the net. It was his fifth goal of the competition as it stayed 1-1 at the break.
Only a reflex save from Casillas kept Dortmund out as Germany midfielder Mario Goetze unleashed a fierce shot in the 50th minute as Borussia laid siege to the Real goal.
Borussia kept pushing forward and were rewarded with their second when Schmelzer fired home from the edge of the area on 64 minutes.
Real burst into life after falling behind but Dortmund mastered their skill to see off threat at home.
CITY FACE VIRTUAL CL EXIT, ARSENAL LOSE
The prospect of a second successive group-stage exit in the Champions League is staring Manchester City in the face after a 3-1 defeat at Ajax on Wednesday left them rock bottom of Group D.
The English champions were looking for their first win of the campaign, but despite taking the lead against the run of play through Samir Nasri, they fell to goals from Siem de Jong, Niklas Moisander and Christian Eriksen in Amsterdam.
Ajax move into third place after claiming a first home win over English opposition since 1980, leaving City bottom of the pool with a solitary point to their name after three games.
Schalke piled on the misery for Arsenal as the German side struck twice in the closing stages to clinch a shock 2-0 win in Wednesday’s Champions League clash at the Emirates Stadium. Dutch duo Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Ibrahim Afellay netted in the final 14 minutes to seal victory.
Having beaten Ajax 1-0 at home and only been denied a win at Manchester City three weeks ago by a late penalty in the 1-1 draw, the German champions produced another battling European display at home against Jose Mourinho’s Madrid.
An opening goal by Dortmund’s Robert Lewandowski was immediately cancelled out by Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the first-half before Schmelzer’s 64th-minute winner.
Defeat drops Real to second in the group on six points with Dortmund top on seven, but the teams meet again at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in a fortnight.
Despite having been European champions nine times, Real continued their appalling record on German soil and in their 24 matches in Germany they have now suffered 17 losses and their single win was 12 years ago.
Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund produced a highly disciplined display as they bounced back from losing the Ruhr derby 2-1 at home to Schalke in the Bundesliga on Saturday to claim victory despite only around 40 percent possession.
Captain Ilker Casillas made his 125th European appearance in front of a capacity crowd of 65,829.
Both sides had early chances as Lewandowski wasted a great shooting position on 16 minutes to fire just left of goal, while Di Maria fired over for Real on 21 minutes.
Dortmund took a deserved lead after a rare mistake by Real’s Pepe saw Kehl snatch possession to thread a pass through the Madrid defence for Lewandowski to fire home on 36 minutes.
With the home crowd still celebrating, the lead lasted just two minutes as a superb pass from Germay’s Mesut Ozil found Ronaldo who lifted the ball over Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidefeller and into the net. It was his fifth goal of the competition as it stayed 1-1 at the break.
Only a reflex save from Casillas kept Dortmund out as Germany midfielder Mario Goetze unleashed a fierce shot in the 50th minute as Borussia laid siege to the Real goal.
Borussia kept pushing forward and were rewarded with their second when Schmelzer fired home from the edge of the area on 64 minutes.
Real burst into life after falling behind but Dortmund mastered their skill to see off threat at home.
CITY FACE VIRTUAL CL EXIT, ARSENAL LOSE
The prospect of a second successive group-stage exit in the Champions League is staring Manchester City in the face after a 3-1 defeat at Ajax on Wednesday left them rock bottom of Group D.
The English champions were looking for their first win of the campaign, but despite taking the lead against the run of play through Samir Nasri, they fell to goals from Siem de Jong, Niklas Moisander and Christian Eriksen in Amsterdam.
Ajax move into third place after claiming a first home win over English opposition since 1980, leaving City bottom of the pool with a solitary point to their name after three games.
Schalke piled on the misery for Arsenal as the German side struck twice in the closing stages to clinch a shock 2-0 win in Wednesday’s Champions League clash at the Emirates Stadium. Dutch duo Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Ibrahim Afellay netted in the final 14 minutes to seal victory.