Borussia Dortmund overcame the intense pressure of the Bernabeau in their second leg against Madrid in the Champions League 2013 semifinals. But is this team ready for the next step when it likely faces Bayern Munich in a few weeks in Wembley?
Borussia had Bayern's number in 2011-12 season, but it has shown increasing weaknesses in big games. Borussia played extremely well in the first leg against Madrid when the pressure was at its lowest. The team was in front of its fans and the aggregate ledger read 0-0. A quick goal got the team relaxed and they cruised to a 4-1 win against a bewildered Madrid side. Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon and the story was a different one. Dortmund held a 4-1 advantage, but Madrid needed a 3-0 win to knock them out and complete a seemingly impossible outcome. 15 minutes into the game, Dortmund should have been thanking its lucky stars and guardian angels because the team looked dreadful and Madrid was unable capitalize on some truly perfect chances. Dortmund looked lost on the pitch and left too many open spaces that the Madrid offense easily picked out. A look at a Mesut Özil breakaway will surely leave many wondering how it was possible that the Dortmund defense left so much room down the middle of the pitch.
The team eventually leveled the play and created a plethora of its own opportunities, but was unable to find that killer goal. Backtrack a few weeks ago to the first leg in Malaga and you will witness a similar situation. The team needed a result in Spain to go home in a more relaxed state. Despite a number of prime chances, Borussia never pulled through. The return leg home was a near-disaster. The team looked eliminated in injury time but got a few controversial goals to book its passage. On Tuesday, Dortmund needed just one goal to end the stress. One goal and Madrid would have been required to score four goals to extend the game to extra time. But the German side hit crossbars and missed open chances. Diego Lopez did make a few tremendous saves, so credit must be due to Madrid; however, Borussia keeper Roman Weidenfeller also made a few key stops to keep his team from imploding early on.
Then the unthinkable happened. Just as the game had run out of gas, the Dortmund defense went into a frenzy and let Madrid score two goals in five minutes; more importantly, two goals in the final 10 minutes of the game. The team was ever so close to blowing the game yet again, but fate seemed to side with them and they eventually pulled off a 4-3 aggregate win. However, the team's collapse late in the game, especially after they had it in control, does not bode well moving forward. Remember that Malaga second leg in the quarterfinals? The second Malaga goal came in the final 10 minutes of play.
Munich has proven to have a killer instinct in this tournament and could victimize Borussia in the pressure filled environment of the Wembley. Will Borussia Dortmund be able to contain it? Their recent performances do not build such a confident case.