Mats Hummels conceded that Borussia Dortmund’s first leg win over Real Madrid was their ‘big step’ towards the Champions League Final.
The Germans are in this year’s competition final having eliminated Madrid 4-3 on aggregate, despite yesterday’s 2-0 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“Of course I am happy. This is something I dreamed of when I started playing football and that is almost 20 years ago now,” Hummels enthused to reporters afterwards.
“It's still hard to come to terms with the fact that we made it. We didn't want Madrid to score as we knew what would happen.
“We played really well from the 15th minute on but missed a chance to score ourselves which would have made things easier on us. In the end we had to suffer 12 or 13 very hard minutes.”
Dortmund missed a handful of good chances to score last night, before conceding late on to Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos.
“The first leg was when we took our big step towards the final. I think we deserve to be there as we were not the worst team today – we just failed to score that goal.
“We didn't expect to be here when the season started, especially when we were drawn in the same group as Real Madrid, Manchester City and Ajax.
“Our objective was to qualify in the first two places in the group but from the first game everything went almost perfectly.
“I expect we will meet Bayern Munich in the final as four goals is normally too much to come back from. They are outstanding this year in the League and the UEFA Champions League.
“If we get a German final it means we will have a German winner which is what everyone wants back home.
“Now that we are in the final we don't want to lose it. I hope our presence there isn't a once in a lifetime opportunity but it could be.”
The defender also had a few words for the atmosphere at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.
“It was unbelievably loud here which made things hard. We showed everyone that this is not all about luck – we are respected as a team now.
“It's still hard to believe. I was eight years old and a supporter of Bayern Munich when Dortmund won the 1997 final.
“Everyone in Dortmund knows about that game. I wouldn't bet against us achieving the same feat.”
