Dortmund, Madrid through to semis
DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Borussia Dortmund completed a dramatic comeback yesterday by scoring twice in stoppage time to defeat Malaga 3-2 and advance to the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in 15 years.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, also reached the semi-finals for the third straight season despite losing 2-3 at Galatasaray following a second-half resurgence by the Turkish team.
Madrid needed a double from Cristiano Ronaldo to advance 5-3 on aggregate, but only after conceding three goals in a 16-minute span to raise Galatasaray’s hopes of pulling off what would have been a remarkable comeback.
Trailing 2-1 as three minutes of added time began, Dortmund equalised through Marco Reus, but Malaga still held the away goals advantage.
That all changed, however, when Felipe Santana scored from what looked to be an offside position following a goal-mouth scramble in the last minute of play, setting off scenes of delirium among the local team and crowd.
“I think I need to see a doctor. It feels like we’ve won the trophy,” Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said. “My assistants and I were looking at each other in shock in the dressing room and saying, ‘This is crazy’. This is the best I’ve ever felt.”
Dortmund defender Neven Subotic was almost lost for words.
“I just can’t really believe it,” he said. “This is the craziest moment in all of my footballing career.”
Following a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the quarter-finals, Malaga led with their first shot on goal through Joaquin in the 25th minute.
Dortmund’s defence failed to clear, and Santana could only head the ball as far as Julio Baptista. It went from Isco to Joaquin just outside the penalty area. The Spaniard cut inside a defender and shot through Neven Subotic’s legs inside the right corner.
Robert Lewandowski pulled one back in the 40th, but Dortmund still needed another goal to progress.
Instead, Malaga substitute Eliseu thought he had decided it in the 82nd with another goal that looked offside, only for Dortmund to complete their remarkable turnaround.
In Istanbul, Ronaldo looked to have wrapped up the quarter-final series by scoring in the seventh minute for a 4-0 overall lead, requiring Galatasaray to score at least five goals to advance.
The Portugal forward scored again in stoppage time for his 48th goal — including a competition-high 11 in the Champions League — in 47 matches this season. But only after Galatasaray came alive following Emmanuel Eboue’s 57th-minute leveller.
Galatasaray forward Wesley Sneijder scored in the 71st, before Didier Drogba added another goal a minute later. Both previously played under Madrid coach Jose Mourinho — Sneijder at Inter Milan, Drogba at Chelsea.
Madrid were hanging on at this stage as the crowd, whipped up into a fervour, urged Galatasaray on.
“During a few minutes, the tie was open when it shouldn’t have been after we had gone ahead,” said Mourinho. “But when they play with this passion, and not just with 11, but with 50,000, anything is possible.”
Madrid right back Alvaro Arbeloa was sent off in injury time after being booked twice.
It will be Madrid’s 24th semi-final appearance in Europe’s top-tier club competition, although the team has been eliminated at that stage the past two years. It will be the fourth straight year Mourinho has reached the final four, having led Inter to the title in 2010.
Madrid completely dominated the match until Eboue’s equaliser, which awakened Galatasaray’s attack and transformed the match from a placid stroll to a frantic contest largely staged in Madrid’s last third.