Real Madrid were forced to settle for second en route to the Champions League last 16 after another, dramatic 2-2 draw with Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
James Rodriguez was given a rare chance to impress in midfield for Madrid, who had to Dortmund in order to top their group.
Nonetheless, it was Andre Schurrle who came closest early doors, the winger firing a first-time shot just over from Los Blancos’ D.
Not that Madrid needed too long to get going, though, as Cristiano Ronaldo won the ball back and broke quickly before backheeling for Karim Benzema, but the striker’s low shot was saved by the legs of 36-year-old Roman Weidenfeller.
James then overlapped Ronaldo down the right of the Dortmund area, but his close-range shot was blocked by Weidenfeller, although the goalkeeper couldn’t do anything about Benzema’s tap-in after he met Dani Carvajal’s tap in, the right-back having been unmarked down the right.
Keylor Navas, meanwhile, was on hand to make a wonderful stop to his right, when Schurrle’s free kick crept through the wall and threatened to curl into the bottom-left corner.
Christian Pulisic and Gonzalo Castro attempted two more snapshots for Dortmund before half-time, while Ronaldo came a whisker away from sliding Benzema’s cross home for 2-0.
Ousmane Dembele had been well-marshalled by Madrid in the first half, yet he was allowed to embark on a mazy dribble into the Madrid box early in the second, only to then poke his shot inches wide of Navas’ left-hand post.
Benzema promptly capitalised, scoring his 50th Champions League goal as he headed home a pearl of a cross from James.
Marcelo, however, proceeded to play on Marcel Schmelzer, who met a long ball over the top down the left and merely touched it down for reported Madrid target Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to tap past Navas.
Los Merengues looked to counteract Dortmund’s growth in momentum by bringing on Toni Kroos for his first appearance in a month, but the Germans in turn threw on Marco Reus and Emre Mor, whose cross missed Aubameyang by a whisker at Navas’ back post.
Cristiano Ronaldo, for his part, would wait almost 70 minutes to test Weidenfeller with a vicious strike that the goalkeeper managed to push away, before Benzema followed up with a header that was cleared off the line from the resulting corner.
Marcelo suddenly had the opportunity to make amends for his earlier mistake when the ball dropped to the Brazilian in the BVB area, but despite being unmarked, he blazed it over on the volley.
Lucas Vazquez picked out Ronaldo to perfection via a swirling cross at Weidenfeller’s back post, which the No 7 controlled but could only knock onto the post from point-blank range. Sergio Ramos’ header was then superbly clawed away by Weidenfeller.
Another madridista returned in the guise of Alvaro Morata, but just seconds after the striker’s introduction, Marcelo was again exposed down the left by Aubameyang, who left the full-back for dead before crossing into the penalty area for Reus to slide past Navas.
That goal also meant Dortmund had scored the most goals ever (21) in a single Champions League group campaign, while Madrid’s potential opponents in the next round would instead be Arsenal, Napoli, Monaco, Leicester and Juventus.
Real Madrid 2-2 Borussia Dortmund
Benzema 28, 53 (RM) Aubameyang 60, Reus 88 (BD)
Real Madrid: Navas; Carvajal, Varane, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric (Kroos 63), Casemiro, James; Vazquez, Benzema (Morata 85), Ronaldo
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Sokratis, Bartra, Schmelzer; Pulisic (Mor 61), Weigl, Castro (Rode 80), Dembele; Schurrle (Reus 61), Aubameyang
Referee: Marcinak (POL)
