Lewandowski demolishes Madrid

Robert Lewandowski scored all the goals as Borussia Dortmund beat Real Madrid 4-1 in the Champions League semi-final first leg.

Sergio Ramos was moved across to right-back after the suspension and injury to Marcelo and Alvaro Arbeloa, whilst Luka Modric came in for Angel Di Maria following the Argentine winger’s absence earlier this week.

The home side meanwhile, welcomed back Lewandowski and gave a starting berth to Mario Gotze, despite the recent news that he will join Bayern Munich next season.

In a real end-to-end opening to the game, it was the Bundesliga side who had the first real opportunity inside five minutes. Marco Reus ran from deep, skipped past Raphael Varane and forced Diego Lopez into a smart stop down to his right.

It wasn’t long though, before they did take the lead. A cross from Gotze found Lewandowski at the far post, and the Poland international slid in to tap home.

Jurgen Klopp’s men were pressing Los Blancos and forcing the visitors into basic errors. Ilkay Gundogan and Sven Bender were covering their defence well and also starting attacks with their laser-sharp passing.

Jose Mourinho’s team meanwhile were left to pick on scraps, with only a Cristiano Ronaldo free kick to keep Roman Weidenfeller busy.

The capital club slowly started to get into the match after their early troubles, and managed to equalise on the stroke of half-time. Gonzalo Higuain squared to Ronaldo after a mistake from Mats Hummels, and the Portugal international struck into an empty net.

After the break, it didn’t take long for the hosts to regain the lead. A mishit shot from Reus ended at the feet of Lewandowski, and the striker was there to slot home from inside the six yard box.

Madrid were shell-shocked, and just five minutes later, gave away a third goal. Lukasz Piszczek shot wildly at goal, but Lewandowski was again there to control, turn and shot into the roof of Diego Lopez’s net for a terrific hat-trick.

The away team were in complete disarray at this point, and, quite unbelievably, went even further behind on 66 minutes. Xabi Alonso pushed Reus in the back inside the area, and Lewandowski stepped up to smash home his, and Dortmund’s fourth of the evening.

Los Merengues tried to get a second away goal to take back to Santiago Bernabeu next week, but they created very little, and it was only a Varane chance late on that got the away fans off their seats.

Borussia Dortmund 4-1 Real Madrid

Scorers: Lewandowski 8, 50, 55, 66 (BD); Ronaldo 43 (RM)

Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller; Piszczek (Grosskreutz 83), Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Gündogan (Schieber 90), Bender; Kuba (Kehl 82), Götze, Reus; Lewandowski

Real Madrid: Diego López, Ramos, Varane, Pepe, Coentrao; Alonso (Kaka 80), Khedira; Modric (Di Maria 68), Ozil, Ronaldo; Higuain (Benzema 68)

Tags Borussia Dortmund
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