As the curtain dropped on another awe-inspiring European night at Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park, Real Madrid and in particular, Zinedine Zidane will be left hurting as his team was denied a historic win by the gritty Dortmund display, with the hosts securing a 2-2 draw, with Aubameyang and Schurrle’s strikes cancelling out Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane. Having played 7 matches now in Dortmund’s back yard, Real Madrid are yet to register a win, with the late smash and grab result, much in a manner that a FIFA 16 gamer would be proud of.
T4O looks at the players who crashed the party for Real Madrid.
#3 Lukasz Piszczek
Right-back
The ever-reliable Polish international knows all about keeping the 2nd best player in the world quiet, through various past encounters at the club and international levels. Lukasz through of the vast majority of the match, didn’t put a foot wrong. Always providing an outlet from the back, he’s the one who with an utter sense of calmness took the pressure off the Dortmund defence when the situation demanded so. His rearguard also looked at him to set the attacking tempo with the ball, while charging forward with due prudence.
Match rating – 7.5
#3 Julian Weigl
Defensive Midfield
Tied at third the 21-year-old midfield conductor, Julian Weigl laid the base of the Dortmund attack. Such was his prodigious talents, Zinedine Zidane had to instruct attacking James Rodriguez to man-mark the playmaker in the second half of the game. Blessed with an eerie calm that belies his tender age, Weigl again showed the world why he is one of the most sought after young metronomes plying their trade at the highest level; with the Madrid midfield struggling to contain his economy in possession, keeping the game ticking for Dortmund, and putting in defined structure in their build-up play. Knew when to up the tempo, and did so with relative ease.
Match rating – 7.5
#2 Ousmane Dembele
Right-forward
It’s easy to see why Jürgen Klopp of Liverpool was bent on acquiring Ousmane. While the much-loved ex-Dortmund manager settled for the undoubted talents of Sadio Mane, he’d still probably would have tuned in to see how his old club was faring and would have been vicariously delighted as to how the 19-year-old from Vernon, France, is settling like a duck to water, or a mustard on a frankfurter, or an arse on a bucket. Whichever German phrase that tickles your fancy.
When he’s on the ball there is a collective gasp around the stadium, as he’s expected to pull off some outlandish skill, showing utter disdain for the most successful club in world football.
While he was somewhat waste with possession, he did his job well enough to make the likes of Sergio Ramos barking for his defensive line to fall back.
Match rating – 7.8
#1 Andre Schurrle
Left-forward
Super Sub Schurrle read the headlines in Dortmund, as the once Chelsea cast-away established his place in the hearts of the Dortmund faithful, rifling a shot into the inside roof of the net. Coming back from a knee injury, he succumbed to it, but not without laying it all out there, before laying there on the pitch grimacing with pain.
He was the party crasher Madrid least expected.
Match rating – 8.5
